Querencia
by MusicLover2010
Summary: SasuSaku; "Are they together or..?" "Well, they're kinda, sorta, almost.. actually, yeah. They're together."
1. Chapter 1

**Querencia**

 **Chapter One**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

"Are you sure you want that, Sasuke?" Itachi questioned as his younger brother started running towards the check out. Following Sasuke, he said, "Out of everything in the store, you want that?"

"Hmm," Sasuke hummed cheerfully as he placed the brown bunny onto the counter. "It's perfect."

Staring at the bunny's beady black eyes and the red bow in it's floppy ears, Itachi dazely handed the cashier the money. But then glancing at his younger brother's gleaming eyes and big smile, he simply shrugged. Whatever made the little kid happy was good enough for him.

.

The next day, Itachi had figured out why his little brother had decided to buy that stuffed bunny out of everything else in the store as he walked him to school in the morning.

As they reached the elementary school's gates, Sasuke ripped his hand out of Itachi's grasp and starting running. Not even bothering to turn around, little Sasuke shouted a quick 'goodbye' as he ran away. Itachi watched as his brother dashed up the stairs and greeted his group of friends.

Sasuke gripped onto his backpack and turned around to check up on his fluffy passenger before standing on his tippy toes, searching for something - someone actually. Following Sasuke's gaze, Itachi watched as a pop of pink appeared from behind the school's doors. Interestingly, the pastel colored hair belonged to a girl. Who would have thought little Sasuke would have befriended a girl, especially one with pink hair at his age. Itachi continued to watch on curiously.

The moment Sasuke caught sight of her, he hastily bid his friends goodbye and ran over to where the girl was. Beaming, he swung his backpack around and took out the brown bunny that Itachi had bought him. Lips widening into a smile, he thrusted the stuffed animal into the arms of the girl, leaving her wide eyes.

Itachi didn't catch what his younger brother was saying to the girl but he assumed it was something among the lines of Sasuke gifting the girl the stuffed animal.

Sasuke then touched the brown bunny's red bow and pointed to the identical one on top of the girl's head.

How cute, Itachi thought. His darling younger brother decided to spend his monthly allowance on a bunny that wasn't even for himself, but for a girl he liked at school. Very cute indeed.

.

"Ma, can I have more cookies for lunch?" Little Sasuke asked one night at dinner.

Putting her spoon down, Mikoto raised an eyebrow at her youngest son's request. "I thought you hated them? You said that they were too sweet."

He nodded. "They are."

Mikoto sniffled her laugh. Giving her husband and Itachi a glance, she asked, "Then why would you want me to pack you more, Sasuke?"

"Sakura says that they're yummy." He replied back nonchalantly, as if it wasn't that big of a deal.

Eyes wide, Mikoto choked, "Sakura?"

"Hm, Sakura loves sweets."

"And who is this Sakura, Sasuke?"

"She's a classmate and a friend."

"And girlfriend," Itachi muttered quickly in his mother's ear, earning him a confused look in return to which he just laughed at.

.

"Come to my birthday party Saturday." Little Sasuke handed his pink haired friend a dark blue invitation.

Surprised by the invitation, she was left speechless. Cheeks flushing red, she stammered, "O-oh, I can't…"

Glaring at his shy friend, he said, "Too bad. You're coming."

"B-but…"

"It's my birthday, you have to do as what I say." Sasuke countered childishly.

When Sakura didn't say anything back, he grumbled since Uchiha didn't pout. At least that's what his father had told him when he was caught pouting once. Trying to persuade her, he mumbled, "There'll be lots of your favorite cookies…"

.

"Happy Birthday, Sasuke." Sakura timidly handed him a blue wrapped gift. Her face was as flushed as the color of her hair, looking down at the ground, she said, "I hope you like it. I wasn't sure about what to get you."

He accepted it with a smile.

It was a long, slim box carefully wrapped in a dark blue paper and topped off with a matching ribbon. Upon further inspection, he realized that there was a sakura charm attached to the gift tag. At this, he could help but smile a little wider. Sakura was always one to pay close attention to the details in things, and his birthday present was no exception.

Cheeks turning rosy, Sakura stammered, "Open it, what are you waiting for?"

And Sasuke did exactly that.

Unwrapping the gift with care, he let the ribbon fall into her hands while he kept hold of the charm. Behind the dark blue paper, it revealed a slim leather box. Opening it, he found a set of ballpoint pens snugged inside the velvet cushion. Unlike the million other pens he had for school, this one had his name engraved in silver on it in a light cursive font that looked incredibly familiar. There was only one person he knew that would barely dot their i's like that. And it was Sakura.

"I know that you have a lot of pens…," Sakura began, "but I thought you might like this one. Since you're always a little picky with your pens. It writes really smoothly. So you can solve all of your math problems and the ink won't look bad."

Running his thumb over the engraving, he smiled as he felt the outline of a sakura blossom at the end of his name. "Thank you."

And it was a pen that he would always pick over the rest for years to come.

* * *

{A/N}: Another story that has been in the draft folder on my computer for the longest of time. Just thought it was about time to post it. Might not be the best but it's something I've been wanting to write for a while now. This is going to be a somewhat drabble series, but they're all connected. At least that's my plan for now~ Possibly some errors, I'm re-edit it another time. But let me know what you guys think with some reviews!

xoxo, KP


	2. Chapter 2

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Two**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

"What? No! She can't play with us." One of the middle schoolers retorted back as he pushed some of the boys to the side to get to the front. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, he said, "Boys only."

"Why not?" Sakura countered. So what if she was a girl, she can totally handle some roughness. It was tag football for crying out loud. But even if it was actual football, she had a right to play too.

"Because you can't," Jung huffed as he crossed his arms in front of him, "and because I said so."

Trying to hold back her cry of frustration, Sakura's hands balled up into tiny fists at her side. "You're not even team captain. And what are you so afraid of? That some pink haired girl is going to beat your butt in your own game?" Seeing how red the boy was in the face, she continued on, "Don't think you can handle playing with a girl? Still think girls have cooties? What are you five?"

"Shut up!" He marched right up into her face, spit flying with each word he shouted. "I said you can't play! So you can't play! Go away, Pinky." With his final words, Jung roughly shoved her to the ground, knocking the breath out of her lungs and leaving her wheezing heavily.

All around him, the boys began to shout at him hysterically. "Yo, dude, that was such a wrong move…"

"Are you crazy?" Another shouted. "She's a freaking girl! You didn't need to body slam her to the ground like that. Freaking Uchiha is going to murder yo ass."

Brushing it off like it was nothing, Jung said, "Pfft, what is Uchiha gonna do?"

The moment those words left his lips, he instantly regretted them. Moments bask in enjoyment of winning the battle were sucked out of the window as he turned around and found none other that Uchiha Sasuke's figure looming over him; steel eyes settled into a icy glare, with the intent to kill. Sure, all of the boys were slowly starting to have their growth spurt. But Uchiha was a good head or so above them all, which added to his intimidating aura. And he was already intimidating enough without the sudden added height to begin with.

Right behind him was Naruto, who wore the same look as Sasuke on his face. Brushing past Sasuke, he clapped Jung on the shoulders, hard. "So, you're the squirt that bothered Sakura."

.

Handing her his water bottle, he wiped the sweat from his brow. "You could have just told me that you wanted to play tag football." Picking at the green grass, he mumbled, almost bashfully, "I would have played it with you."

Completely out of breath from the game that they had just played, Sakura quickly drowned down the water. "I didn't think they would make such a big deal out of it… If I had known, then I would have bothered you instead."

"Well, now you know, stupid."

"Yeah, now I know - wait! Who are you calling stupid?" She gaped, face flushed. Raising her fist to his shoulder, Sakura glared him down.

"You, dummy."

.

"Shit, where's Ino when you need her…," Sakura mumbled under her breath. Rubbing her clammy hands against the material of her jeans, she gnawed on her bottom lip.

Nudging her shoe with his own to get her attention, he whispered, "You're solving an algebra problem, what do you need that blondie for?"

Sakura was so out of it that at Sasuke's sudden touch, she jumped in her seat, knocking her knees up against her desk. To which Sasuke raised a single brow at. Flustered beyond belief, she averted her eyes back down to her hands resting on her lap. Words barely above whisper, she said, "It's a girl thing…"

"Like?"

If it was even possible, Sasuke watched as she flushed an even darker shade of red; one that was close to rivaling the always blushing Hyuuga. Words stumbled out of her mouth in a jumbled mess, barely coherent. And the more she talked the less it made sense.

"Sakura," he began sternly, "what is even going on?"

"Well…umm…," Sakura wasn't sure how to put it to be honest. Especially to someone who's a guy. Sure, he was her closest and dearest best friend. But, he was still a guy. Lowering her voice down another notch, she mumbled, "I'm.. umm… on my period…"

"Yeah, and?" Sasuke really didn't understand what the big deal was. Being as close friends they were, he kind of already knew that a couple months back when Naruto thought that she was eating a bag of chips and not sharing it in the bathroom. Turned out, she was just opening a pad. To say the blond was stupid was an understatement. "What's the big deal with that? You took some ibuprofen earlier, didn't you? If you need some more, I have some."

Just as he was about to reach into his backpack to get some ibuprofen, she stopped him abruptly. "No, no. It's not that!" Leaning closer to him, she whispered, "I'm… ummm… I leaked…"

At her words, Sasuke looked over at her light denim jeans. Sighing deeply, he asked, "How bad?"

"I didn't think it would come this early but… yeah… I didn't even bring anything for it…"

Very bad apparently.

Digging into his backpack, he pulled out his football sweatshirt and tossed it to her. "Wear it. It'll cover it. And go to the nurse, dummy."

Sakura gratefully accepted the shirt and tugged it over her head without any complaints, not before flashing him a big smile.

* * *

{A/N}: And that's a wrap for the second chapter. A bit shorter but I hope you like this one just as much as the first! Will be updating again next Friday or Saturday. Also, I will be accepting prompts for this story if you have any. Feel free to PM them to me~ Other than that, don't forget to review!

Thank you to: **Multiple guest anons, Emily da great, Yamora Love n Friendship, Larshapeach, SaYwHaT, and saisakurauchiha.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Three**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

"Where the hell is this damn bus?" Sakura rubbed her arms furiously. "It's raining and it's a cold."

"Yeah! And Kakashi isn't even here and this was his idea!" Naruto shouted. "So not cool, that old man."

"He's probably all warm in bed reading that stupid, orange book of his." Some kid shouted. "Meanwhile we're here on his behalf for some stupid community clean up."

"We should have just done the animal shelter instead." Another muttered. "Picking up shit sounds better than dying in the cold like this."

Blocking out all of the complaints from her classmates, Sakura took a seat on the cold ground and wrapped her arms around her knees. This was definitely not how she had planned to spend her one free Saturday. She could be sleeping in or catching up on her tv shows, not freezing like this in the rain. Tugging her hoodie up, she tried to block as much of the biting wind from nipping at her face as much as possible. Her nose was pretty much frozen, she could barely feel it even when she pinched it.

"Stop it. Are you trying to become Rudolph?"

And that was when she felt a heavy material dropped onto her shoulders.

Looking up in shock, she saw Sasuke sitting down in the spot behind her. She didn't fall out of her stupor, letting his heavy jacket fall to the floor until Sasuke flicked her in the forehead and clicking his tongue in disapproval. "Not going to wear it are you?"

"Huh? Oh… aren't you cold?" She asked as she slipped her arms into the sleeves of the jacket. Sakura could barely contain the blissful sigh that left her lips as she felt the warmth wrapped all around her.

"Nope." Sasuke quipped, the corners of his lips turning upwards slightly at the sight of her completely dazed out and blissed face.

.

"This is disgusting." Sakura brushed some baby hairs out of her face with the back of her gloved hand. "Rain and city trash really don't mix."

And Sasuke couldn't help but agreed as he picked up another piece of trash, stuffing it into the black garbage bag. Any good mood that he could have had earlier disappeared the moment the bus dropped them off in the dirtiest part of the city to clean up. It really didn't help that their clean up route was an incline, so all of the water from the rain just continued to run through their feet like a river. Rather disgusting. Kakashi was gonna have a whole lot of angry students to deal with after the weekend.

His train of thought on how to kill the older man was cut short when he heard Sakura let out a little squeal of distress.

"Ugh," Sakura yanked her foot out of an ankle deep muddy puddle. "I am forever done with this community service. I would gladly do it any other day than today." Stomping up the hill to the to end meeting point she grumbled, "It's fucking cold, raining, and my socks are soaking. They should have rescheduled this damn thing. I'm going to get a cold from this."

Seeing her struggle, he took the garbage bags from her and helped her cross the tree branch littered path. Being careful on where he placed his foot, he extended out his free hand to her.

Sakura gratefully accepted it without a second thought. Tightening her grip on his hand, she allowed him to lead the way. With her not having to focus on carrying the bags and finding her path, it was so much easier to walk. They ended up covering twice the distance in comparison to before. Sure, they didn't pick up as much trash but it was more effective. Not to mention, they had to leave some things behind for the group far behind them to get, right?

Not paying enough attention to where she was placing her foot, Sakura lost her balance and stumbled into Sasuke's back, hitting her chin hard.

Wincing in pain, she moved her jaw a few times. "Well, that hurts." Punching him lightly on the shoulders, she complained, "Why is your back so hard? It's like hitting a brick wall, goodness."

He tightened his grasp on her hand and they continued on, not before mumbling a quiet, "Sorry."

"Stupid tree branch." Sakura grumbled. Examining her left sneaker, she groaned. The little tear that she had in the netting part of the shoe was now a huge hole. Her once light blue socks turned brown.

At the sound of her words, he caught onto what had happened as well. Letting go of her hand, he turned around and crouched a little. "Hn, get on."

.

As to the two teens entered the car, Itachi asked, "So how was leaving a changing impact on your community feel like, my dear little ones?"

"Literally crap," Sakura answered as she buckled in while Sasuke kept quiet and looked out the weather at the gloomy weather.

Glancing at them from the rearview mirror, he raised an eyebrow. "That bad, hm?"

"That bad," Sakura replied. "My shoes and socks are ruined. And maybe even my pants. It looks like I just came from a pig farm."

"What happened Sakura?" Itachi chuckled, "I've always placed you as the loving community service person. I thought you loved things like this?"

Pouting, she countered, "I do! Just maybe not this one… I blame it on the weather."

"And your choice of shoes," Sasuke added as he continued to look out the window at the passing scenery.

Looking down at her badly beaten sneakers that was caked with mud and holes, she groaned. Sakura was hoping she could have extended the life line of her sneakers for a little longer. She was planning on getting new shoes after her next allowance month. But she guessed that wasn't going to happen.

At her words, Itachi caught his younger brother's gaze in the rearview mirror and raised a single eyebrow. Seeing Sasuke's slightly flushed face in response, Itachi couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"It's not funny Itachi," Sakura pouted.

"I wasn't laughing at you kiddo," Itachi began. Glancing at Sasuke once more, he said, "I was laughing at my brother and his inability to give a gift apparently."

Sasuke glared at him hard, shaking his head.

So his younger brother was a bit of a wimp and a scary cat. Not a problem, Itachi just needed to give him a little push to get him going. Smirking, Itachi asked, "When are you going to give it to her?"

"Give what?" Sakura asked curiously as she looked over at Sasuke's frozen body. She tried to meet his eyes, but he kept on averting his eyes anywhere else but hers. When she saw that she wasn't going to get an answer from the younger Uchiha, she turned towards Itachi and began bugging him for the answer to her question.

"You'll see, kiddo." Itachi told her as they pulled into the driveway of her house. Shifting the car into park, he popped the trunk open. Turning around, he knocked his knuckles against Sasuke's knees. "Go."

Sakura was confused beyond belief. What were the brothers talking so secretly about.

Sensing her confusion, Sasuke sighed and pulled her out from the car by her wrist. He led her to the back of the car and lifted the trunk up. Reaching into to the far back, he pulled out a black and white shoe box. Averting his eyes to the side, he shoved it into her limped hands. "Here."

Sakura's eyes widen to the size of saucers. Gripping the box in her hand, she spluttered, "W-what's this?"

Rubbing the back of his neck embarrassedly, Sasuke urged her to open it.

As she lifted the lid of the box and pushed back the tissue paper inside, a pair of brand new sneakers looked back at her. It was a simple and classic pair but she could tell from the stitching that it was expensive. She lifted one of the pair out from the box and gaped. He even got her one with memory foam. But what touched her heart the most was the specialization in the back of the heel of her shoes; two S's and the outline of a cherry blossom.

Quickly placing it back in the box, she shoved it back into Sasuke's hands. Playing with her fingers nervously, she said, "I can't take this. You didn't have to…"

"But I wanted to." Sasuke countered as he shoved it back into her hands.

"But…"

"No buts. Just wear the dang shoes Sakura. I know you've been planning on getting new shoes." Sasuke continued. "Your sneakers were reaching their end way before today anyways."

"They weren't that bad…," her cheeks turning rosy as she began to switch out her shoes.

Lending his arm to help her keep her balance he said, "Don't lie. You had that hole in your shoes for a few months now."

So he noticed, Sakura thought. She didn't think it was that noticeable. But then again, nothing could go unnoticed past an Uchiha's eyes. Sasuke noticed anything and everything. He had eyes of a hawk. If there was anything as better than 20/20 vision, Sakura was sure her best friend had it.

Finished with the lacing she stood back up and smiled at the sight of the new shoes on her feet. They were perfect. Gazing at him through her lashes, she smiled, face a little rosy as well. "Thanks Sasuke."

"Hn,"

Just as a blanket of silence came down on them, a comfortable one, Itachi just had to be the brother he was and ruined it, making it awkward. "What's taking so long? You guys better not be shoving your tongue down each other's throat."

* * *

{A/N}: Tried super hard to post this last night before I went to bed but I didn't want to give you guys an error filled chapter. Ended up being super busy this week and I went bowling last night so I really didn't have anything written until super early this morning. Hope you guys like this chapter as much as I did. It was super easy to write, smashed it out in only a few hours. Editing on the other hand, that's another story. I will go back later to make any edits I missed.

As requested by a certain reader, I've included Itachi in this chapter. Oh, what a great brother he is~

If you liked it, please leave a review! Speaking of reviews, I can not believe the number of reviews tripled just from chapter one to two. You guys are insane! Love you~

 **Thank you to: Multiple guest anons, ILoveSxS, Jena, MademoiselleRED, FlowSoreto, Emily da great, LuminaJu, naruhina, SierraJuliet518, and PrincessAkiraaa.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Four**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

"...which makes the new force one half times the old force since the force of gravity varies directly with the masses and is the inverse squared to the distance apart." Itachi ended the calculation with a smile. Handing Sakura her pencil back, he asked, "Makes sense?"

Sakura nodded excitedly, "Thanks! I've been struggling with this problem for the longest. Even the teacher tried to explain it to me but it wasn't as short and simple as you just did."

"No problem kiddo," Itachi gave her another smile as he reached out to ruffled her pink locks.

But before his hand could land on top of her head, Sasuke quickly swatted it out of the way, glaring his older brother down. In return, Itachi couldn't help but snicker at his younger brother's jealous mood. Deciding to mess with him a little longer, Itachi leaned closer to Sakura and talked to her about another physics question.

Jaw clenching, Sasuke shove his way in between him and Sakura and look a glance at the physics his friend was having trouble with. Seeing that it was their homework from a couple nights ago, he raised an eyebrow. Knocking his friend on the shoulders, he asked, "Why didn't you ask me for help on this a couple nights ago?"

"Well..," Sakura began, "you had football practice so I didn't want to bother you. And when you got home it was super late anyways…"

"So?"

"So…," Sakura started to get a little flustered underneath her best friend's suffocating gaze. Not being able to handle the attention any longer, she quickly scooted back in her seat and pinched her nose. "You should go take a shower that's what. You stink, Sasuke! I know you're a boy and all but be a little hygenic will you!"

Taking a whiff of his practice jersey, he wrinkled his nose in disgust. Sakura had a point there.

"Fine." Sasuke mumbled, not before adding, "Don't solve any more physics problems while I'm away." To make sure his message was heard, he gave his brother a hard glare as he walked away. "I mean it, Itachi."

"Hmm, whatever you say little brother." Itachi laughed in response.

And then on second thoughts, Sasuke quickly dashed back over to the counter and stole Sakura's physics book, earning an unhappy shout from the latter.

.

"Ah, come on you guys!" Naruto exclaimed, ruffling his blond hair in frustration. "My brain is about to explode from all of this studying. Haven't we studied enough?"

"It's only been like an hour or so Naruto." Sakura laughed. "And that's what happens when you don't study."

"You don't have a big enough brain capacity formed to handle studying."

"Yah! What did you say Sasuke?" Naruto growled. Not letting Sasuke get another word out, he tackled him to the ground.

As the boys rolled around on the ground, throwing light punches at each other, Sakura just laughed at their childish demeanor and cleaned up all of books.

After a while, the boys got tired and stumbled onto the basement couch, each holding a xbox controller. While Naruto went ahead and took it upon himself to set up the game, Sasuke reached into a side compartment, pulled out a chrome colored controller, and handed it to Sakura. As she got comfy in her spot and ready for the game, Sasuke sat down next to her, followed by Naruto. And that was when Naruto took noticed of the special treatment.

"Whoa! What is the meaning of this Sasuke?" He shouted, completely appalled at the sight of the chrome controller in Sakura's tiny hands. "You never let anyone use that! Not even me, your bestest, greatest, handsomest friend."

"Says who?" Sasuke shot back, neck turning a little red in embarrassment. He hoped that Sakura wouldn't think too much of the situation.

"Oh, wow." Naruto gasped. "I see how it is. I see how much our friendship means to you, you traitor!"

Reaching over Sasuke's body, Sakura landed quite a mean punch on the blond's shoulder. "Quit being overly dramatic and just start the game already will you? Unless...," Sakura smiled, a bit to sweet for Naruto's liking. "You want to do some more physics problems."

Laughing nervously, Naruto quickly hit the start button and the game's intro music began to fill the room.

.

As Naruto was setting up the settings for another round, Sasuke felt a light pressure land onto his shoulder. Glancing over, he found Sakura fast asleep on his shoulders with the xbox controller still in her hands.

Sasuke smirked at the sight of her sleeping form and took the controller out of her hands. Silly girl, he thought. He saw her nodding off earlier in the middle of a game, so he told her to just go to sleep. Of course being the stubborn girl she was, Sakura ignored his words and continued playing. And now, not more than 10 minutes later, she's out like a light.

Throwing a blanket over her shoulders, he readjusted himself so that she would fall lightly against his chest, allowing her to sleep in a more comfortable position. The moment she was on his chest, Sakura automatically snuggled deeper into his chest like a baby kitten. Now that she was all good and cozy, he swung his arms around her figure with his gaming console still in hand and returned back to the game on the screen.

When he saw that the game on the screen had been paused, he rose a single eyebrow at Naruto.

"Why don't you tell her about your feelings?" Naruto questioned.

Sasuke had almost choked on his spit at Naruto's sudden inquiry. Clearing his throat he said, "What feelings?"

"Fine," Naruto sighed exasperatedly, "your crush."

"What crush?"

Tossing his hands up in the air, Naruto sagged against the back of the couch in frustration, "If it's not a crush then what is it, love?"

"It's nothing, that's what." Sasuke grumbled as he returned his full attention back to the TV, ignoring all of the blond's continuous blabbering about him and Sakura. Wrapping his arms just a little tighter about her body, he demanded Naruto to shut his loud mouth and pay attention to the game. They had zombies to kill instead of worrying about a certain four letter word that he currently hated. Or rather, he didn't understand. That's why he hated it.

.

"Ma," Itachi sighed, "you shouldn't be doing that. Let them sleep in peace."

"Why would I do such a thing?" Mikoto whispered back with a smile as she clutched the camera tightly in her hands. "This is the perfect opportunity to get some cute pictures of them, Itachi."

"They're not five anymore, Ma." Itachi countered. But he continued to follow behind his mother's footsteps anyways.

Making sure to be extra quiet as they came down the basement stairs, Mikoto peeked from behind the corner to make sure that the kids were still asleep. And much to her delight, they were. Tip-toeing closer to the couch, she held the camera up to her eye and quickly snapped a few shots. As she looked back over them with Itachi looming over her shoulders, she had to try very hard to contain her squeals over the cuteness in each photo, especially on a photo of just Sakura all snuggled up in Sasuke's embrace.

"Itachi, do you think they'll start dating officially once they get to high school?" Mikoto whispered.

"Highly doubt it." Itachi laughed. "If I know anything about Sasuke, they're probably not going to date until much later. I say it'll be after college."

"Oh, that's impossible! They're going to date in high school, I'm sure." Mikoto argued. "That's when your father and I started dating. And you know how similar Sasuke is to your father."

"They are similar but Sasuke's a bit of a coward when it comes to Sakura." He couldn't help but laugh fondly at the memory of Sasuke being too scared to give Sakura the shoes. "Even when his feelings will probably grow a lot in high school, they won't date until after college."

"It's going to be high school, Itachi."

"Hmm," Itachi chuckled as he began to lead his mother back up stairs. "We'll see, Ma. We'll see."

* * *

{A/N}: I'm slowly making each chapter longer, so I hope you like this one~ I also went back and edited the previous chapters, so there shouldn't be a lot of errors.

Have you guys read the current chapters of Naruto Gaiden? I'm dying from all the Uchiha family feels and the lowkey romance between SasuSaku is giving me life!

Anyways, let me know what you think by reviewing down below! Chapter three didn't get as many as chapter two, sadly. So review~ Also, let me know what day of the week do you want me to update. Because currently, it's Fridays or Saturdays, but it might change when I go back to college in a week or so.

 **Thank you to: a guest anon, LuminaJu, Emily da great, peachrings, ILoveSxS, Shannon Rei D. Sumner, xXxSmartCookiexXx, and orangetree.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Five**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

"Why are you doing this?" Sasuke questioned. Sighing, he handed her another tissue and watched as the mountain of used tissues grow by the second.

"Because I have to be there until the very end!" Sakura blabbered back through choked sobs, eyes completely pink and swollen. "It's so sad!"

"Then stop."

"But, I've been in it for so long. I can't just stop like it's nothing."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Sasuke took a deep breath. "It's a damn tv show, Sakura. You're acting like your parents died or something."

"They're essentially my parents! I've been with this show for so many years now, they mind as well be too." Sakura exclaimed and pointed at the screen, waving her tissue all around.

Going back to his homework, he mumbled under his breath, "And I present to you, the mentality of a top student at Konoha High School…"

"Oh shut up, Sasuke. I know you secretly watch this show too."

"No, I don't."

"Sure," Sakura giggled. "Login activities that aren't mine says otherwises. And you're the only one that is allowed on my account."

With his neck burning, Sasuke shoved her away and continued on with his homework. He completely ignored all of her teasing and joking. He didn't even give her a glance when she claimed she was dying. But that didn't mean he was completely unaffected by all her actions. While he wouldn't say it out loud, Sasuke found her freaking adorable. Sure, he didn't like it when she cried, but he guessed a tv show causing her a little bit of pain is okay. With her eyes a little puffy and nose turning pink from all the tissue abuse it got, she looked like a tiny kitten that just woke up from a nap. Simply very cute. But he would have to be on his deathbed before he ever let her know that.

That's why, when she wiggled close to him and placed her head onto his side, he didn't stop her and allowed her to do as she pleased. Shifting around a couple times, Sakura finally found the perfect spot and settled in with her english reading book in hand. After a couple moments though, she decided against it and tossed the book to the side.

Sasuke watched from the corner of his eye as she snuggled deeper into his side even more before closing her eyes with a sigh. "Tired?" He pulled his jacket that hanging on the back of the sofa and laid it over her body.

Sakura hummed. "Yeah, crying takes a toll on your body."

"Yet, you still watch those shows regardless."

"Because why not."

"You're annoying."

"Why thank you." Sakura laughed, not before giving him a sudden pointed look. "Now, I'm gonna take a nap, so don't you dare move me. You hear?"

"Hn, whatever."

"I'm serious. Don't move me, I'm very comfortable."

"The bed is better, just saying."

"Don't move me, Sasuke."

.

"Ugh, Sasuke…," Sakura whined. "Why didn't you stop me from watching those shows? My eyes are all swollen and gross now."

"I did." He replied as he looked over at his best friend, who was looking downright gorgeous in every way possible.

Sasuke watched as she attempted to block the evening sun from her eyes as she fixed the side, thigh slit of her blushing pink, open back halter gown. Regardless of everything she said, her makeup was done to perfection for the night. The rest of the girls on the homecoming court simply paled in comparison to Sakura.

Turning to face him, she asked, "How's my makeup? Is my mascara running?"

"For the tenth time, Sakura, you look fine." Sasuke gently pushed her curls back over her shoulder and straightened her silver name stash.

"Easy for you to say, mister." She pouted. "You look good in any and every picture you take. Even in a stupid football uniform."

He couldn't help but roll his eyes at her childish whining. Sakura can definitely be annoying when she wanted to be. Just like now. Pushing that topic to the side, he picked up his football helmet and stuck his mouth guard into his mouth. "Don't stay for the game. Go home after they announce the homecoming king and queen. It's suppose to get colder and rain later on."

Before she could open that pretty little mouth of hers to protest, Mikoto popped in and waved her camera around. "Oh! Sakura, you look absolutely stunning!"

At his mother's words, he gave Sakura a smirk that had 'I-told-you-so' written all over it.

Not giving Sakura any time to land a mean punch on him, Mikoto quickly ushered them to get closer together for some pictures.

.

The Konoha Leafs had a good game that night despite the brutal weather that came after halftime, just as Sasuke had suspected. More than half of the audience left once the rain came pouring down. It was mainly the parents and younger kids. The students stuck it through though; screaming even louder than before, cheering on their home team.

Sasuke had tried to search out a certain pink head throughout the game, but with all that rain, it was harder feat than he thought. With a bright hair color like Sakura, he figured he would at least catch a blur blob of it. So when he didn't, Sasuke had assumed that she had left when his parents did too.

Boy, was he wrong.

He was ruffling his freshly showered hair and walking out of the locker rooms when he spotted a flash of pink out of the corner of his eyes. Halting in his steps, he whipped his head around so fast that he was pretty sure he got a whiplash from it.

There standing outside in the rain, holding an umbrella near the fence of the stadium was none other than Sakura.

Sasuke couldn't help but let out a loud groan before dashing outside.

He tried to shield himself from the rain as much as he could with his gym bag as he continued running over to her. Ducking quickly under her umbrella and proceeding to scare the living daylights out of her, Sasuke growled, "Sakura, what the fuck are you still doing here?"

With her other hand over her chest, trying to recover from the shock, she stammered, "W-waiting for you."

"Why, stupid?"

"Well, I wanted to watch the rest of the game and I figured you wouldn't mind if I tagged along to go home."

Sasuke wanted to beat his head against the wall. She could not be that insane or dumb to stay outside in this weather like this. "It's fucking cold as fuck. You're going to get sick, dummy. Why didn't you go home earlier with my parents? It's just a football game, there's still like a dozen more. Ones that are not going to be in terrible weather like this for you to watch."

"But, it's your first game!" Sakura retorted, her face turning red, whether from anger or the cold, Sasuke didn't know. "I wanted to be there to cheer you on!"

"You're so annoying…" Sasuke groaned.

"So I've been told…," she mumbled in response.

Sasuke tried his hardest to be mad at her for being stupid and not taking care of herself. But that facade was quick to break though. He watched as her arm shook against the cold and gusty winds that whipped her pink locks all around like a mad woman. Her knuckles were a ghastly white as she tried to keep the umbrella upright against the storm. Her mascara was starting to run and smudge from her watery eyes. And then when his eyes landed on her pale, slightly purple lips, his hard exterior broke.

He tore the umbrella out of her hands and pushed her body flushed against his. Wrapping her inside the warmth of his letterman jacket, he whispered, "You're seriously so..."

"Annoying…," she finished for him. "I know."

* * *

{A/N}: Very late update, sorry! I start college again on Monday so I've been busy. I'm almost always busy though lol. Anyways, hope you guys like this chapter. Little bit more of Sasuke than usual.

Leave me a review and tell me what you think~

 **Thank you to:** A guest anon, LuminaJu, Emily da great, ILoveSxS, Shannon Rei D. Sumner, Dropsofchocolate, dreamof08, orangetree, and Yamora Love n Friendship.


	6. Chapter 6

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Six**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

Throwing her pen onto the table, Sakura sighed heavily. Deciding that that was going to be the extent of her studying for the night, she grabbed her phone and jumped onto her bed, scrolling through all of the notifications she had gotten in the past couple hours. As if he knew that she was taking a break, a new message from Sasuke popped up on her phone. Smiling, she hastily opened it.

' _Come outside. Bring a jacket.'_ Confused by his sudden command, Sakura took a glance outside her bedroom window. And lo and behold, there standing in her driveway, was none other than Sasuke himself.

She could barely contain the smile that appeared on her lips at the sight of him.

Quickly sending him a text, she dashed out of her room, not before reaching for a random hoodie laying on her floor per his request. As she passed by the kitchen, Sakura shouted to her mom, "I'm going out with Sasuke for a little bit. I'll be back soon!"

Not too concerned about her daughter's spontaneous night outing, Mebuki shouted back and laughed, "Take your time! You've been studying too long. About time that Sasuke pulled you away from those books."

Her mother's words were lost to the wind once she stepped out of the house and locked the door behind her.

As she walked up to Sasuke, he gave her a soft smirk and pointed at his watch, "2 mins and 12 seconds. Not bad."

"Oh, whatever." She replied, sticking her tongue out childishly at him. "Alright, mister, what could possibly so important for you to come here this late on a school night to tell me?"

Keeping silent, Sasuke simply twirl something around on his index finger. It was black and silver, that was about as much as Sakura got from merely glancing on it. When she gave him a weird look, inwardly saying that he was crazy, he rolled his eyes and tossed the object to her. As she opened her palm, she found a set of keys staring back at her.

Shocked, she gave Sasuke a quick look before placing all of her attention onto the sleek, black car sitting in her driveway. Mouth gaping open, she whirled around and tackled her best friend into a tight hug. "Oh my gosh, Sasuke! You did it!"

"What, you think I was going to fail?" Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle at her child like reaction. Returning her hug, he allowed her to do as she pleased and blabber non stop about the whole ordeal, making it a bigger deal than it really was.

Releasing him from her hug, she looked at him eagerly, "Alright, the moment of truth." Clapping her hands excitedly, she placed her palms in front of her like a child, "Let me see that ID."

With a the corners of his lips lifted just slightly, he reached back into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Following her wish, he placed his freshly new ID into the palm of her waiting hands.

"Aww, look at you being all handsome and stuff." Sakura cooed. She reached out and pinched his cheeks, giggling at his uncomfortable expression as she did so.

Taking back his ID, Sasuke walked over to the passenger side and opened the door for her. "Come on, I promised you a ride."

.

In comparison to the day, the night held little traffic, just the occasional late night buses making their last stops or cars driving home from a night shift. Nothing but empty streets and the cold breeze combing through their hairs.

The moment that he had started driving, Sakura took it on herself to let the roof open up and wind the windows down so that the cool, damp forest around them could come in. Unlike the other times, he had had Sakura in the car, she decided not to play with the radio station this time. It was quiet, but it was comfortable. Him driving, and her looking out at the passing scenery; eyes closed and taking in the breath of fresh air.

And that was how they drove for a while.

They didn't really have anywhere to go, or anything on their mind. So, they drove late into the night, under the stars until they lost track of time.

Sasuke had decided to take the back road that wounded around the outskirts of the cities, full of twists and turns around blind bends at seemingly high speeds that he knew Sakura loved. She loved it when they drove fast, just merely kissing the speed limit. Before the both of them could drive, Sakura was always eager when Itachi had took them home from anything because unlike their parents, Itachi would give her the thrill she craved for.

His brother was always strict on the seat belt problem but other than that, he followed every and all requests that Sakura had. He would make jerky turns with the car or step on the gas pedal and cruise at eighty down the road just to make the pink haired girl laugh and scream at the top of her lungs in joy.

Now that he could drive, Sasuke figured it was his turn to keep the lovely girl right across from him happy and blissed out on the roads. But he wanted to do more than that. That's why, instead of continuing down the winding road, he took a soft turn to the left, driving through a deeply forested area to a certain spot.

Sakura didn't even know that they had stopped driving until Sasuke closed his door and opened hers. A little confused, Sakura followed him to the front of his car, where he had already began laying a small picnic blanket onto the hood of his car. She was left flabbergasted when he gave her a nod and patted the hood.

"You're kidding right?"

Sasuke simply shrugged. "If you're worried about it being dirty, I already laid down a blanket for you."

She couldn't help but laugh at his response. Out of all things, he's worried about. He's worried about _that_ instead of the fact that he wanted her to take a seat _on_ his precious car. Shaking her head, she smiled widely at him, "So, let me get this straight. You're allowing me, to take a seat on the hood of your brand spanking new precious baby?"

"Hn, you're the baby." He stated as he easily lifted her up and placed her on top of the blanket without another word. Laying right next to her, he allowed her to rest her head onto his arms so that it wasn't as uncomfortable as they gazed at the unclouded stars in the night sky.

.

"How are you so lucky, Forehead?" Ino whined as she helped her best friend with all of the flowers that she had been gifted with. It was that time of year again where the cheerleading team had began selling flowers every so often to fundraise some money for their competitions. Ino had always envied Sakura during events like this. Sasuke would buy her everything and anything, whether she wanted it or not. Ino picked at a pink carnation from the locker and mumbled, "Why can't I have a Sasuke in my life too?"

At the sight of the blonde's fake tears, Sakura patted her on the back sympathetically. "I highly doubt that he bought all of these Ino."

"Of course he did! Look at the colors!" Ino retorted. Picking at a dark red carnation, she lectured Sakura on the meaning of it. "This means love and affection. The pink one is for gratitude. And white is for purity and luck."

Feeling a little more than flustered at all the feelings that Sasuke was indirectly sending to her, Sakura quickly retrieved the rest of the flowers, stammering, "T-they could have been from Lee too…"

"Everyone knows that Lee buys every girl he knows a flower, Forehead." Ino laughed. "Even I got one."

"Exactly," Sakura agreed suddenly. "See, I'm pretty sure ninety percent of it is from Lee."

"I said 'a flower,' Forehead. Singular. As in one flower. Not," Ino took a glance at her struggling to hold all of the carnations together in her arms, "a bouquet of them."

With her cheeks matching the hues of the carnations, Sakura mumbled quietly, "Can we just move to a different topic? Any gossip you want to relay?"

Ino couldn't help but throw her head back and laugh. She never knew her best friend could be so clueless on everything that was happening around her. Patting her on the back just as Sakura had done to her earlier, Ino said, "Girl, you're the gossip. What else is there for me to talk about when you're it."

Sakura shook her head, bumping her hip into Ino. "Now, that can't be true. I'm sure there's more gossip to talk about that doesn't revolve around me."

"Sadly, you're it." Ino replied. Placing a hand onto her forehead, Ino pretend to faint against Sakura, "You're so lucky to have Sasuke, girl. I heard he was going to take you shopping after school as his treat on your exams this past week. How romantic."

Hastily walking away from her embarrassing friend, Sakura shouted, "It's not that big of a deal, Ino."

"Oh, you know it is Forehead! Have fun on your date. Tell me the details later. I want it all!"

When Sakura looked up from the bouquet of carnations in her arms, she was surprised to see Sasuke already at his car, waiting for her. At the sight of him, she couldn't help but blush at the conversation that she just had with Ino. With hurried steps, she reached the passenger side and attempted to open the car's door without exchanging a single word with him. As if Sasuke had sensed her uneasiness, he didn't say anything and simply helped her into the car. And she was ever so thankful for that.

.

"Which one should I get?" Sakura asked as she swatched another lipstick on his wrist.

Leaning against the makeup display case and his free hand stuffed into his pockets, Sasuke shrugged. He took a glance at the colors she had swatched, and said nonchalantly, "They look the same, Sakura."

"No, one is more of a pink nude and the other is a peachy nude."

He gave her a bored look and sighed. "Just get both."

Nodding in agreement with his suggestion, she happily tossed the two lip colors into her little makeup basket. And for the next two hours, that's how they spent their time in the makeup shop. Sakura would go around looking at products and then swatch them on his arm, while Sasuke occupied his time on his phone mindlessly, not really caring about the whole situation, except for making her happy.

By the time they had made it to the counter to check out, Sakura had filled the basket up quite significantly, but nothing too extreme and still in her budget. Smiling, she went to pull out her wallet when the total came up. As she handed the girl her card, she found a different, yet familiar black plastic card already in the girl's hands.

Whipping her head to the right, she punched Sasuke on the arm, gasping, "Sasuke! I was going to pay."

He took the card back from the cashier after the transaction was done, placed it back into his wallet, and shrugged, "And?"

"I was going to pay that's what!" Sakura exclaimed in the midst of accepting the shopping bag from the girl and bid her a quick goodbye before turning back to the conversation at hand. Pouting, she added, "I know you offered to take me shopping but that doesn't mean that you have to pay for it."

"Yes, I didn't have to." He nodded. "But I wanted to."

"But…,"

Reaching to carry the shopping bag in her hands, he said, "Just think of it as a treat for your exams." Then flicking her on the forehead, earning a cute squeal from the girl, Sasuke placed his palm out in front of her. "Give me your wallet."

"What? Why?" Despite not getting an answer in return, she handed him her wallet anyways. She watched as he opened it and flipped through it. Then suddenly catching on, she blurted out, "Hey, I don't have any cash to pay you back if that's what you're looking for. I only have credit cards."

"No, stupid." he replied drily as he slipped a gift card from the store that they just came from into one of the card slots. He handed it back and told her, "Use it next time you go shopping."

* * *

{A/N}: I had meant to upload this right at midnight but I was _so_ tired. That's what 8am organic chem lectures and night shifts in the pharmacy does to you... But surprisingly, this chapter is twice as long as the last one! And sorry for any errors I missed.

Anyways, lighten up my homework filled weekend with some reviews!

 **Thank you to:** Multiple guest anons, LuminaJu, Shannon Rei D. Sumner, Emily da great, ILoveSxS, fanofthisfiction, and sasusakulover.


	7. Chapter 7

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Seven**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

Sakura had felt his presence next to her locker as she picked out the books for their next class. Readjusting her glasses, she asked without looking up, "Did you study for our calculus exam? I still can't get that one equation right." When he didn't reply, Sakura looked up from her notes and closed her locker, revealing a downcasted Sasuke leaning against the wall. But what took her by surprised the most was the black pair of frames sitting on the bridge of his nose. She was completely shell-shocked.

Sasuke had never worn his glasses in front of her. She knew that he had them, but the all too proud Uchiha had always wore contacts instead. He claimed that, "only one of them could be the dorky, smart one." And thus far, Sakura had rightfully claimed that title. Until now.

Just as she was about to open her mouth, Sasuke beat her to it, "The contacts haven't arrived yet."

Giggling at his obvious embarrassment, Sakura couldn't but squish his face in between the palms of her hands, to which he attempted to swat away. But after a while, Sasuke simply allowed his lovely best friend to do as she pleased. He matched her delighted expression with his signature stoic one.

"Why don't you look ever so dashing." Sakura sang cheerily.

Grumbling, Sasuke gave her pointed look, "Shut up."

"I got to admit, maybe glasses aren't too bad for you." Sakura continued, smiling widely at his scowling face. Waving her hands around, she said, "Kind of gives you a sexy, CEO aura. You should wear glasses more."

"No."

"Oh, why not?" Sakura exclaimed, jutting her bottom lip out into a pout. "You don't look that dorky in them at all. Not to mention, we can match! The dorky glasses duo. It'll be so cute."

"Uchihas don't do cute." Sasuke huffed.

"Well, too bad, because you're cute." Sakura couldn't help but laugh as he rolled his eyes over the comment. She could tell he was slowly getting annoyed, so Sakura decided that it was time to drop the subject. As they turned and entered into their next class, Sasuke slipped in first. Just as he passed her, she couldn't believe what she heard him whisper.

"You're cuter."

Sakura almost had a heart attack.

.

The Uchihas sure had good taste.

That was all that Sakura could think of as she ran her fingers over the satin material of her floor length gown. It was certainly a daring selection as she look back at her reflection in the mirror. A plunging neckline that made her feel a little more exposed that what she had wanted. A thigh high slit that showed off her nice, toned legs. Making a small turn, she couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed by the amount of skin that she was showing as the back of her dress didn't even exist. It was completely open and backless from the top of her shoulders to the base of her spine.

But that didn't mean that she didn't love it. The dress was stunning and beautiful in every way possible. The silver tones in the dress surely brought out the greens of her eyes. And it didn't make her look too washed out. If anything, it brightened up her complexion, making it seem as if she was glowing.

Slipping her feet into the matching pair of silver heels, she made her way out the door.

Sasuke didn't look half that bad either. But who was she kidding, he was always a stunner. The boy looked downright sinful in anything and everything that he wore. And a classic black suit was no exception.

He didn't look up from his phone until he heard the sound her heels clicking against the ground, growing louder as she got closer. The moment he slid his phone into his pocket and faced her, Sakura couldn't help but feel a little warm at the sight of the corners of his lips turning upwards. It was his way of smiling anyways. And it had meant the world to her.

.

The gala was in full motion by the time that they had arrived. And Mikoto was the first to spot them as they entered the grand ballroom.

Enveloping Sakura into a warm hug, she gushed at how beautiful she looked. "Sasuke had told me to keep it simple but I couldn't resist dear. And I was correct, you look absolutely breath-taking, sweetie."

"Thank you for the dress, Mrs. Uchiha." Sakura smiled. "I love it alot."

Waving her hands absently, Mikoto shushed her. "Oh, Sakura. Stop calling me that already. Mikoto is perfectly fine. You've been with our family long enough." Urging Sakura to make a turn, so that she can see all of it, Mikoto couldn't help but gush again over at how beautiful she looked.

It had gotten to a point where Sakura was starting to blush at all of her compliments. Taking that as a que, Sasuke slipped in and placed two hands onto her shoulders, pushing her away from his embarrassed best friend. "Alright, Ma. I don't think Sakura can handle anymore gushing."

As the two Uchiha moved away and into the center of the gala, Sakura decided to stick to the outskirts of the ballroom and grabbed a drink from the refreshment bar. But before she could even take a sip of her drink, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she came face to face with a brunette she had never seen before.

Beating her to the question, the brunette asked with a raised eyebrow. "How did you get that dress?"

And with those words, Sakura couldn't help but groan internally. She did not have the patience to deal with stuck up corporate princess right now. And this girl was already rubbing her in all the wrong ways even though she had barely said anything.

Not even letting Sakura answer the initial question, the brunette exclaimed, "It's not even out in stores yet. There's a long waitlist for it. And I would know because I'm on it. " Looking at Sakura up and down, the girl crossed her arms across her chest in a weak attempt to make herself more superior. "Who are you anyways?"

"Someone of the Uchiha Family," a gruffly voice behind them spoke up.

Sakura saw the girl's eyes widen in shock before averting her gaze down to the floor, head bowing. It was then that she decided to turn around to take a look at who could have caused the brunette such a fright. And her heart nearly jumped into her throat at the sight of Fugaku. Following the girl's actions, Sakura also bowed her head.

Sakura listened with her head still bowed as the head of the Uchiha household exchanged a few words with the girl before shooing her away.

"You can lift you head."

Lifting her head to look at him in the eyes, she greeted him politely, "Good evening, Mr. Uchiha."

He nodded in return. Taking a quick glance at her attire, he frowned, "My wife sure was daring in choosing a dress like that for a corporate charity event…"

Not sure how to reply to that, Sakura simply kept quiet. Then it became unbearingly silent. The two didn't exchange any words during those few minutes. Unable to handle his intimidating look any longer, Sakura averted her eyes away from his face. The bright chandeliers look a lot more interesting in that moment.

Then breaking the unbearable silence, Fugaku shocked her out of her stupidor by laughing loudly, catching the attention of a few bystanders. Waving her in, he said, "Oh, come here and give me a hug already."

After returning the hug, Sakura was shocked to see a smile appear on his lips.

"Don't give me that look child. I'm not always intimidating as I'm put to be." Fugaku patted her shoulder sympathetically. "I wouldn't have gotten my wife if I acted like Sasuke all the time."

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at that comment. He wasn't wrong.

"How's school?"

"Oh, great!" Sakura couldn't help but feel excited as he asked that question. "Surprisingly, the last couple weeks aren't too bad."

"That's good to hear," he commented, taking a sip from his wine glass. "I heard you and my son will be attending Konoha University in the fall."

"Yeah, they have a really amazing pharmacy program. And a business program as well. Not to mention it's closer to home."

Fugaku nodded. "That's good." Just as he was about to say something else, Mikoto called out for him. Raising his hand, he told her he would be over in a moment. Facing back to Sakura, he gave her one last reassuring pat on the shoulder. "You'll do great. If you need anything, don't ever hesitate to ask."

.

Not long after his dad had left her, Sasuke appeared again at her side. "What did my dad talk to you about?"

Startling her, Sakura choked on her drink. Coughing a few times, she spluttered, "College."

Eyebrows furrowing at the sight of her body wracking with coughs, Sasuke took the drink out of her hand and placed it on a table nearby. With her face all flushed from the coughs and eyes completely watery, she turned to face him. "You seriously need to stop scaring me like that." Fanning her face, she coughed a couple more times. "Trying to kill me aren't you."

"Hn." Sasuke rubbed her back apologetically. He hadn't meant to give a scare like that. Had he known that, he would have announced his arrival in a different way. Glancing at her overly watered eyes, he reached up with his thumb and carefully wiped away the excess tears, careful not to ruin her makeup.

"Thanks," Sakura accepted the tissue that he had extended out to her. Dabbing her eyes a couple of times, she assured him that she was perfectly fine. Before he could ask her one more time, whether she was okay or not, she grabbed his hand and dragged him out to the dance floor. "I'm fine, I promise! Stop fretting like you're my dad or something, Sasuke."

At that comment, she could already sense the scowl that was making its way onto his handsome face. Giggling, Sakura turned around and threw her arms around his neck. "Oh, come on. Cheer up, Sasuke. This is my favorite song. And I believe you owe me a dance after almost killing me like that."

Rolling his eyes in annoyance at her over exaggeration, Sasuke sighed. But he didn't resist. Instead, he slipped his hands onto her hips and allowed her to lead them into the dance.

* * *

{A/N}: Not as how I had imagined it in my head but I hope it's up to your guys' standards. I'll be updating again on Monday~ 'Til then let me know what you think. Let those reviews flow in. Make my 9am shift tomorrow a little more bareable...

 **Thank you to:** Larshapeach, Shannon Rei D. Sumner, Emily da great, xxnikaxx, LuminaJu, ILoveSxS, RansomeNote, FlowSoreto, MademoiselleRED, leiyn, ReinaMoon, and a guest anon.


	8. Chapter 8

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Eight**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

Sakura dropped another box onto the living room floor and exhaled heavily. Placing her hands on her hips, she tried to catch her breath from all the strain-ness lifting she just did. Wiping the sweat off her eyebrow and cleaning her glasses, she sighed again, "Of course the air condition doesn't work the one day we absolutely need it."

They had just finished moving in all of Sakura's items into her dorm, as well as setting everything up. Now it was time to tackle Sasuke's apartment.

Sasuke came up beside her and dropped the last one on top of hers. "Hn."

In comparison to Sakura, it looked like Sasuke had taken a shower from the amount of sweat that was coming off of his body since he took up on all the heavy lifting despite Sakura's complaints. Overall, they were both incredibly tired, disgusted, and in desperate need of a cold shower. But sadly, that would have to wait since there was still much left to do.

As she began to unbox one of the boxes sitting in the kitchen, she grumbled, "You would think a fancy and bougie ass place like this would keep up to date with their air condition." She unwrapped some plates out of the box and and placed it in one of the cabinets. "Literally, one of the hottest days of the summer and this happens. So…"

"Annoying." Sasuke finished for her.

"Oh my gosh, yes! Very annoying!"

Sasuke couldn't help but snort in amusement at her sudden exclaimentation. Since he had always used that term to tease her, Sakura had usually strayed away from using it. He walked over to the kitchen and offered her a drink from his cold water bottle, to which she accepted gratefully.

She returned the bottle back to him and asked, "You packed some fans with you, didn't you? Why don't we turn on the ceiling fans and set those fans up too. Oh, and open some windows. It should help?"

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded. Scratching the back of his neck though, he grumbled as he overlooked all the boxes littered in every corner of his apartment, "Not sure which box though…"

"Better start looking then, Sasuke." Sakura giggled, sending him a wink before returning back to unpacking the kitchen utensils.

.

By the time that Sakura had finished unpacking all the things kitchen related, Sasuke had finally found the fans and were setting them up around the room. She gave let out a blissful sigh as the cool air rushed out onto her body as he placed one directly in front of her. When she did that, she could barely contain her laughter as the sound that echoed back to her was a weird robotic version.

"Doesn't this remind you of when we were little?" Sakura spoke into the fan gleefully.

Following her lead, Sasuke also spoke back into the fan, "Yeah. I remember."

"Okay, moving into his ridiculously hot apartment just got so much better with this fan." Sakura laughed loudly as she continued to sing and say mindless things into the fan.

Sasuke simply just looked at her playing around with the fan with a light smile on his face. Give it to the fan for turning a grown ass girl into a 5 year old again.

.

Amidst all of the unpacking and cleaning, as well as dying in the sweltering heat, they had gotten hungry. Since they haven't done any grocery shopping yet and they were way too tired to do so, Sasuke had decided to just call for take out delivery.

When there was a hard knock on the door, Sakura jumped up and dashed for the door, not before singing excitedly, "Sasuke, get the wallet! Food is here."

Sasuke shook his head, grabbing his wallet. Sometimes, the girl was too hyper for her own good. She had enough excitement in that one little body of hers to compensate for the two of them.

Pulling out a couple of bills, more than enough to cover the cost of the food and the tip, he handed it to the delivery boy. But his grip on the bills tightened as he noticed the love-struck eyes that the boy was giving to his completely oblivious best friend. Sakura was too focused on the content of the food to notice. But then, she was usually oblivious to a lot of the advances that other guys tried on her. Such a Sakura thing to be honest.

Scoffing, Sasuke placed his hand onto the the base of her spine and shoved the bills into boy's hand. It was only then that the boy shook out of his daze. Trying to recover his composure, the boy coughed a few times and thanked Sasuke. Which was only returned with a cold stare and a slam of the door.

Sakura was already stuffing her face with food by the time Sasuke had made it back to the kitchen, with a scowl ever still present on his face. The scowl was quick to disappear though when he heard her laugh through a mouth full of food at his expression. She had taken a seat on top of the marble counter, legs dangling over the ledge.

As he came closer, Sakura wasted no time in shoving a spoonful of her fried rice into his mouth. "Cheer up, Sasuke. He was like fourteen, maybe fifteen."

Swallowing, he replied, "Sure, whatever."

She laughed again, much to Sasuke's displeasure. "Oh come on. Have a little faith in yourself. That scrawny kid has a lot to compete to."

And that was enough to blow up his already huge ego.

Sasuke simply smirked in return and joined her on the counter, eating his own share of the take out.

"What time is your class tomorrow again?" Sakura asked as she tried to compare their two schedules.

"11am. You have an 8am, don't you?"

"Wow…. must be nice you jerk." Sakura sighed as he showed her his schedule. His was nothing in comparison to her fully stacked and packed one. Shaking her head, she said, "Maybe I should just do business instead."

Taking his photo back from her hands, he nagged, "Oh shut up, Sakura. Pharmacy is your future. Business is mine. You're doing what you love."

"I'm not sure that 8am chemistry lectures is what I love…"

Sakura was never a morning person. Sasuke was. She was the night owl out of the two of them. She prefered staying up late, whether it was finishing up assignments or continuous reruns of her favorite tv shows. Sasuke on the other hand, loved waking up early. He was up at the crack of dawn with or without an alarm clock. He prefered the empty gyms and roads; no one to disturb him since it was way too early for humankind.

Giving her hand a squeeze, he told her, "You'll be fine. Caffeine will help."

"Granted if I wake up early enough to make some…," Sakura groaned. She was so not ready for her classes to start tomorrow.

"There's a coffee shop next your class." He offered.

Waving her hand, she laughed. "I am definitely not paying some outrageous price for a tiny ass cup of mostly water and a sprinkle of coffee."

.

Sasuke was laying on his bare mattress on the floor with one of his arms covering his eyes when he heard Sakura come into the room. He heard a rustling of clothes before something landed on the floor. Then he felt her flop down onto the mattress with him, whining. "It's so hot…"

It was late in the afternoon now, and the sun was not letting up. The heat had intensified over the course of a couple hours after lunch. Even with the fans running at their max, the apartment was like the inside of a volcano. Not to mention, unbearably stuffy.

Sasuke had decided to take a nap while Sakura continued on. But he guessed that she had reached her limit to.

"When the hell is the air condition going to be fixed? I can't stand this any longer…"

"They said hopefully tomorrow."

"Hopefully?" Sakura exclaimed. Groaning even louder, she said, "That's it. This is how I'm going to die. I'll see you on the other side, Sasuke."

Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle at her childish whining. She was cute when she wanted to be, that's for sure.

They just laid there in silence as neither of them had the energy to start any kind of small talk. Without all of the ruckus Sakura was making from cleaning and organizing, the apartment was dead silent. They could hear the footsteps of the people who lived upstairs and then the occasional car horns outside the apartment. With the ceiling fan somewhat blowing some cool air onto them, it felt peaceful. Sasuke felt his eyes drooping as he allowed himself to relax.

Despite the heat, he enjoyed the warmth that was radiating off of her body. Sakura was close enough for him to feel her presence, but not close to the point where they were touching. At one point, he heard her breathing mellowing out and becoming steady. With all the work that they have done, combine that with the heat, Sasuke figured it wouldn't take long for her to succumb to the hands of sleep. Not to mention, Sakura loved to sleep anyways.

Shifting his body to face hers, he removed his arm from his eyes. And that was when Sasuke had noticed her choice of clothing, or rather, the lack of. Rolling his eyes, Sasuke could not believe Sakura thought it was okay to come into his room and lay on his bed with nothing but a sports bra and a pair of gym shorts. She was too innocent for her own good.

Even though she had pulled her hair up into a bun, loose strands of her hair was sprayed out into a messy halo around her head. Tucking a few baby hairs out of her face, Sasuke moved in closer to her. As she exhaled, he felt the warmth of her breath touch his face, casting a sleeping spell on him. Eyes closing, he felt himself falling asleep as well.

He unconsciously leaned into her, and at the same time, Sakura shifted her head. Then, in a ghost of a touch, he felt her lips on his.

And that was enough to wake him up completely, eyes wide.

* * *

{A/N}: And I think that should satisfy the need that a lot of you have for this story~

So, review and let me know your emotions. Not to mention, this is another update within 2 days. I deserve some reviews don't I? ;)

 **Thank you to:** Dropsofchocolate, ILoveSxS, LuminaJu, Shannon Rei D. Sumner, TsubasaMei, MademoiselleRED, Emily da great, Jeshimashe, uchiha. sakura. 23, and a guest anon.


	9. Chapter 9

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Nine**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

Fall was slowly making its arrival in Konoha. While it was still unbearably hot in the middle of the day and late afternoon, it was fairly chilly early in the morning. Even with the the cold winds hitting his face, his body still burned at the thought at what had happened yesterday.

After it had happened, Sasuke took it upon himself to leave the room. It was time for cold shower. His train of thought was a jumbled mess. He couldn't even think straight. _He kissed her_. Sakura was going to kill him. Sasuke was sure that he had taken her first kiss from her, unwillingly too. While a small part of him rejoiced at that thought, a bigger part of him couldn't believe how stupid he was. Who the hell leans in closer to someone that's already less than a centimeter away?

Sasuke groaned, internally smacking himself.

Trying to shove that situation aside, he took out his phone and began playing on one of the apps as he waited for Sakura.

There weren't that many students littering the campus yet, it was still early, just the way that he prefered. Looking around, Sasuke figured he could get used to this. The area in front of Sakura's morning lecture was nicely groomed, home to a couple of trees and some potted plants. There was a fountain at the entrance of the building, making it very tranquil.

A buzz from his phone took his attention away from his surroundings. It was a message from Sakura. Ignoring the little jump that his heart did at the sight of her name on his screen, he opened it up.

" _I'm not even in lecture yet and I'm already dying…"_

He snorted. Leave it to Sakura to be overly dramatic about an 8am lecture. Sure, they were kind of brutal but they weren't necessarily that bad in his opinion. He would have gladly traded any of his afternoon classes for a morning one. Unfortunately, none of his classes were offered in the morning.

As he caught sight of some pink out of corner of his eye, he didn't bother to send a reply back and pocketed his phone.

Sakura didn't even notice him. She appeared to be sleepwalking, eyes opening every other step. She didn't even bother to put a lot of effort into her appearance either. She was in an slightly oversized hoodie and leggings, with her pastel locks thrown into a messy bun on top of her head. She still looked adorable though.

She would have bumped into him if he hadn't called out her name. Smirking, he teased, "Still sleeping sleepyhead?"

She raised her head and gave him a tired look. But at the sight of the coffee in her hand, she began to make grabby hands at it. "Oh my gosh! Can I please have some?"

Deciding to tease her a little longer, Sasuke held the coffee up over his head. With his other hand, he blocked her incoming hands. Smirking, he asked, "Who said that this was for you?"

"Oh come on, Sasuke." Sakura pouted, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "I'm the one here with the morning lecture!"

"And?"

"And, I need the caffeine. Come on, sharing is caring."

Messing with her bun, he flicked her on the forehead. "I bought it for you anyways, dummy." Sasuke handed the coffee into her waiting hands, lips turning upward.

Sakura took a sip of the coffee and sighed happily as she cradled the cup to her chest. "You're the best, Sasuke."

"Obviously."

"Oh, stop." Sakura laughed. Shaking her head, she said, "Maybe I shouldn't have said that. It just inflates your already huge ego even more."

"But it's true."

Smacking him on the shoulder, she glared at him teasingly. She leaned forward and rested her forehead on his chest.

Usually on any other day, Sasuke didn't really mind when Sakura would do this from time to time. Granted, Sasuke didn't really mind anything that Sakura did. It didn't bother him because it was Sakura.

But after what had happened, not more than 24 hours ago, Sasuke could feel his ears burning at their extremely close proximity. With her head resting right under his nose, he caught the strawberry scent of her shampoo, making his heart beat a little faster. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to block off the feelings. But it was no use as he began to feel the tingling feeling of the kiss from the night before.

This was seriously driving him insane.

.

They had decided to get lunch after his class.

Sasuke was the first to get out of his seat the moment it was time to go. A couple of his classmates had bid him goodbye but he didn't say anything in return, just a simple nod. Stepping out his building, he found her waiting for him at the bottom of the steps, sitting on a bench. Sakura looked up from her phone at the same time that he had called out her name.

Waving at him, she gather all of things before walking towards him a smile. "To lunch we go. I hope you're hungry because I am."

"Hn."

Sakura had traded out her outfit earlier that day with a simple, floral romper. Her hair was no longer in a messy bun, but loose waves falling over her shoulders.

As they walked across campus to uptown Konoha, Sakura wasted no time before launching into stories about her day thus far, doing most of the talking for him. Sasuke would respond every now and then to let her know that he was still following along.

She was completely out of breath by the time they reached Ichiraku, cheeks flushed. Turning to him, she asked breathlessly, "So, how was your day?"

"Kind of whatever." He shrugged before pulling out a seat for her.

"Of course, ever so nonchalant you are Uchiha." Sakura laughed. Skimming through the lunch menu, she asked, "Is Naruto in any of your classes?"

"One today. A couple tomorrow."

Sakura nodded, biting her finger as she continued to look at the menu. Smiling a little bit, she looked up at him, "I'm surprised he didn't tag along. This is like his favorite restaurant in the world."

"He had a date or something with Hinata."

"Now that makes sense," she smiled. "They're such a cute couple."

"Hn."

.

Ichiraku had gotten busier as lunch time rolled by and it was now late afternoon. With the both of them done for the day, they had taken their sweet time with the food. Sakura continued sharing more stories about her classes, or her roommates, or just random things in general. Someone on the outside looking in might have thought that she was annoying him with her constant chatter, but it didn't. Sasuke actually enjoyed it. He liked it; the fact that he was the first person she would share her stories with.

Taking one last sip of his drink, Sasuke stood up to go find their waitress. She disappeared some time after she brought them their food. Just as Sakura was pulling out her wallet to pay, Sasuke shot her a glare. "No."

Raising her hands up in defense, she sputtered, "Okay, mister. Jeez, you looked like you were about to kill me if I paid…"

"Maybe," he smirked.

Sakura rolled her eyes and waved him away. "Oh, just go find the waitress and pay already, Uchiha."

As Sasuke left their table to pay, Sakura pulled out her phone to check if anything important had happened in the past couple of hours. She found a couple from Naruto, crying that he couldn't go to his beloved restaurant with them, which she couldn't help but laugh at. Thank goodness Hinata appeared in his life or else he would be living off of ramen for the rest of time because she actually took him out to places with real food. After sending him an apologetic text, Sakura opened up a few texts from Ino. Seeing that it was just the latest gossip around campus, she put away her phone, she'll read those again later.

The moment she looked up and away from her phone, she was surprised to see someone sitting in Sasuke's seat. Not to mention, it wasn't someone that she knew. Raising an eyebrow at him, she asked, "Do I know you?..."

Shrugging his shoulders, he gave her a smile, "Probably not."

Sakura nodded her head slowly, "Okay..., then why are you sitting here?"

"Because I wanted to get to know you."

"Okay…why?"

"I just figured someone as attractive as you would be fitted enough to be with someone as extremely attractive as me." He winked at her, much to Sakura's disgust.

Attractive was putting it nicely, especially when she had a Sasuke for most of her life, this random guy's looks were above average at most. He had nice hair and warm brown eyes. His features weren't exactly stellar. Sure, he looked better than most guys she had seen on campus but in comparison to her insanely _attractive_ best friend… She'll take a Sasuke instead.

"I'm sorry but I'm not really interested," Sakura declined politely as she could.

The guy threw his head back and laughed, "Keyword really. That means you're still interested."

Internally rolling her eyes, she forced a smile onto a face, "Fine. I take that back. I'm _not_ interested at all."

"Oh come on, don't lie." He laughed. "I know you're interested. I mean, what's not to like?"

 _Everything,_ Sakura thought annoyingly. Patting his arm, she bit out, "Sorry, but I'm really, really, _really_ am not interested."

When she went to withdraw her hand, he quickly snatched it back and pulled her forward, causing her seat to screech loudly across the tiled floors. With how busy it was at that hour, no one took notice. "Don't try the play it hard card. It doesn't work on me, cutie."

"Does the I'm taken card work?" Sakura retorted hotly as she tried to yank her hand out of his grasp.

"Taken?" He scoffed. "By who? I don't see a boyfriend around."

"It could be a girlfriend you know."

He gave her a doubtful look, "Sure."

"I'm serious, let me go." Sakura struggled.

"If you agree to go out with me."

"You're so full of yourself, you asshole."

"Don't you love it though? -"

"What are you doing?" Pale fingers took hold of his grasp on Sakura's arm. "I believe she said that she was taken."

Sakura felt a huge breath of relief come upon her at the sight of Sasuke coming to her defense, who was currently glaring daggers into the guy's skull. When she felt the guy's hold on her hand slacken and his eyes widen by a fraction, she knew it was over. Leave it to Sasuke to save the day. Her knight in shining armor.

.

Huffing, Sakura crossed her arms in front of her chest as she leaned back in the seat. "See, times like this, I wished I had a boyfriend to scare away all those assholes."

They left Ichiraku not long after the guy stumbled away mumbling some incoherent words of an apology. They had made it back to campus and were now sitting in Sasuke's car, heading back to his apartment.

Going unnoticed by Sakura's eyes, Sasuke's grip on the steering wheel tightened. She didn't how much her words were affecting him; making him all nervous. The heat wasn't even on in the car and he could feel himself sweating a little more with each passing second.

 _Boyfriend._

Just the mere word had his neck burning. And then connecting it with what had happened last night, he was sure his heart was about to jump out of his chest.

Then with some courage that he pulled straight from the sky, he coughed, and asked, "How about we go out then?"

* * *

{A/N}: Hope your guys' weekend is kicking off better than mine. Got into a car accident this morning on the way to classes... so let's just say I've had better days. This year is not going all too well for me to be very honest.

Anyways, hope you guys liked the chapter. Leave me a review to read~

 **Thank you to:** memyselfandI98, Larshapeach, Emily da great, ReinaMoon, Dropsofchocolate, MademoiselleRED, Shannon Rei D. Sumner, FlowSoreto, jrenamae1, ILoveSxS, leiyn, Jeshimashe, Ally, LuminaJu, and a guest anon.


	10. Chapter 10

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Ten**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

Sakura choked on her own spit and began coughing so hard that her face turned beet red. Hastily reaching for the water bottle in the car's cup holders, she took a big gulp. Eyes all watered from the attack she just had, Sakura turned her attention out the window and attempted to recompose herself. But that was easier said than done. Why? Because freaking Uchiha Sasuke just bluntly asked her out as if he was asking if she wanted ice cream or something.

They had stopped at a red light during the whole ordeal and it made it all the more awkward.

A heavy silence settled over them, thicker than the uneasy tension in the air. Silence had always accompanied them, since Sasuke was never much of a talker. But Sakura had usually taken on the role of the one to fill those empty rides with chatter. Now though, she could barely squeak out a single word. She shifted uncomfortably in the passenger seat and wiped her clammy hands onto the material of her outfit.

Not being used to the awkward silence, Sakura glanced unceremoniously out the car's windows in order to avoid catching his side glances he would take from time to time. Eventually though, she could barely stand it anymore. Deciding that the silence had been prolonged more than enough, she braced herself and turned to face him.

As she opened her mouth to reply, her phone rang loudly from her backpack, surprisingly coming to her rescue. Sakura could barely contain her sigh of relief. She broke eye contact with Sasuke, the ringing snapping the both of them out of their revivre a moment later. Sasuke turned his attention back onto the road again as she answered the phone.

Before she could even get a 'hello' out, Naruto was already screaming her ear off. "Sakura! You have to help me! I think I killed Hinata with my cooking! She's dying in the bathroom. Please help me!"

As she attempted to calm down the panicking blonde, she would steal a glance at Sasuke from time to time. But each time she did, he looked as stoic as ever, not even fazed by what had just happened between the two of them. He seemed completely unbothered and had his eyes trained forward on the road. Sakura knew better though, she was sure that inside, he was a raging mess.

.

She felt nervousness course through her veins as she spotted him outside the interview building, mindlessly scrolling away on his phone, a suit jacket draped over one of his arm. Sakura hadn't seen him for more than two seconds in the past couple of weeks. With her tightly packed work schedule on top of the increasing intense homework, she barely had time to go outside of her dorm room. Include all of the awkwardness that had been brewing between the two of them, Sakura made little to no attempt to see him in the past weeks.

As she walked up to him, the loud clicking of her heels alerted him of her presence. She barely had a chance to open her mouth and greet him when he snapped his head up in her direction, dark eyes pinning her down in her steps. She stopped just a few inches away from him as she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, averting her gaze down to her feet. "Hey…"

"Hn."

"How have you been?"

"Busy."

"Oh, same." Sakura replied, sighing internally. Of course, leave it to Sasuke to make small talk near impossible. Taking a deep breath, she decided to just go along with it. "College has not been nice to me lately. Apparently, all of my professors think it's such a brilliant idea to schedule all of their exams in the same week. It's so annoying… You would think they would understand that I have a life outside of classes…"

By the end of her sudden rant, Sasuke had pocketed his phone and had his full attention on her, much to her embarrassment. Sakura could not believe she just made a complete fool of herself like that, acting like everything was normal and running her big mouth off. Feeling heat rise up to her face, Sakura avoided his gaze and looked over his shoulder.

But it was nice though that she was able to vent out some of her bottled up emotions that she was holding onto for the past couple of weeks. Sasuke was honestly the only person that she felt completely free to rant or talk to when she had a lot on her mind. He would always let her talk his ear off until she was out of breath before offering to take her out for something sweet to cheer her up.

Even with everything that had happened, it looked like her Sasuke was still there for her as he asked, "Have you been getting enough sleep?"

"Yeah, I've -," Sakura was cut short as she felt something wet drop onto her nose, then two, then before she knew it, the sky started pouring down rain, _hard_.

She barely had anytime to comprehend the situation until Sasuke had thrown his jacket over her head without a second thought and pulled her into his arms before dashing inside the building.

The two of them were out of breath by the time they made it inside. Biting her lip, Sakura tried to suppress the chattering of the her teeth as the cool air enveloped her slightly damp body. Pulling the jacket a little tighter around her body, she took a glance at Sasuke. Having given her his jacket, Sasuke had taken the full beating; the ends of his ebony hair was dripping with rain and the top half of his white dress shirt completely see through.

It was there standing in the empty corridor, that Sakura was finally able to take in what had just happened and what had lead them there. Despite the time that they had spent apart, nothing had really changed between them. She had realized that the moment it began pouring, she had ran to Sasuke for protection and Sasuke had given her his jacket for shelter without a second thought. As she watched him run a hand through his wet locks, her heart began to beat a little faster in her chest. A sudden warmth bloomed from within her chest, brewing slowly at first, then suddenly and overwhelming spreading throughout her whole body. Just looking at him scowl at his more than damp clothes, Sakura couldn't help but smile. She couldn't believe that she had managed to get through the past few weeks without him in her life, _barely_ to be truly honest.

She reached into her purse and pulled out a couple of tissues, handing it to him. Her ears picked up a quiet mumble of a 'thank you' from him as he ruffled his hair, sending small droplets of water onto the floor.

After drying himself as best that he could even with a drenched shirt, Sasuke returned his gaze back onto her. Giving her outfit a once over, he was glad to see that she was dry for the most part. He took his suit jacket from her and gave it a good shake, sending another series of water droplets onto the floor. As he fixed the collar of her blouse, he asked, "Your pharmacy school interview is tonight isn't it?"

A shiver ran down her spine as she felt his fingers brush across her collarbone for a split second. Her mouth was too dry for her to speak. Nodding, she breathed out, "Yeah. It's actually in a couple minutes."

Retracting his hand, he lifted his chin in the direction of the interview rooms. "You should get going then."

"Hmm, I should." Sakura replied back, a tid bit hesitantly. She remained rooted in her spot, her legs not moving as she locked eyes with him.

As she clasped her hands behind her back nervously, gnawing on her bottom lip, Sasuke let out a little snort of amusement. Walking up to her, he gave her a little push in the direction of the interview rooms. "Go, Sakura. I'll be here."

.

Hearing the familiar sound of heels hitting against tile, Sasuke looked up from his phone. Just as he had assumed, it was Sakura. Meeting her halfway, he asked, "How did it go?"

She didn't even bother saying anything, instead choosing to throw her arms around his neck and hugging him close, giggling.

Her actions had taken him by surprise. He didn't think she would return back to how they used to be so quick, not that he minded at all. Hands slowly slipping down onto the lower part of her back, he hugged her close, breathing in her soft floral scent. The moment that he felt her arms squeeze a fraction tighter around his neck, he breathed out slowly, his muscles loosening up. She sighed into his neck as she melted into his hold, warming him up. Hugs like this, he had alway relished in the past but honestly, Sasuke did take them for granted. It wasn't until the distance that grew between them following the events that day, that he missed it greatly.

So reluctantly, he pulled away, yet hands still lingering around her waist. Ebony eyes locking with emerald ones, he raised an eyebrow, "I'm assuming it went well then?"

Smiling brightly, she nodded. "Made it through the first round! They'll contact me later next week for more information on the next round of interviews."

"That calls for celebration, yes?"

Shrugging, she said, "Eh, not really. Haven't made it into the program for sure yet."

"But you're one step closer."

"I am but it's not certain."

Sasuke couldn't help but roll his eyes over her incredibly annoying humble response. Draping his suit jacket over her shoulders, he led her out the door. "Fine, but there's something else to celebrate, isn't there?"

Brows pinching in confusion, Sakura gave him a blank look.

Shaking his head, he continued to lead her out. It wasn't until they were outside, passing by under a street lamp that she felt something warm envelope her hand. She felt him run his thumb over her knuckles as he tightened his hold. Shocked, Sakura snapped her head up and stared at him, but he paid her no heed as he continued to look forward. But under the light of the moon, she could pick out a faint dust of pink on the tips of his ears. Replaying their conversation in her head once more, her bottom lip dropped.

' _...but there's something else to celebrate, isn't there?'_

She clamped her mouth shut and she couldn't help but allow a wide smile to form on her lips as she grasped his fingers a little tighter, giving it a light squeeze.

.

Naruto wasn't really sure how he managed it but he got both of his best friends to leave the comfort of their own places, pulling their noses out of those damn textbooks, to attend his spontaneous friday night party. Wild, crowded college parties like this were never _their_ thing.

The music was blasting so loud from the speakers that it made even his ears tingle. The bass was thumping in time with his heart beat, filling his body from head to toe with the rhythm. Over the roar of the music, the constant chattering coming from everyone was barely hearable. For even the person standing right next to him, he would have to shout back so that they can hear what he said. But that was how Naruto liked it.

Until a random red-head tapped him on the shoulder, shouting, "Are they together?"

Naruto looked in the direction that he was pointing and his eyes landed on Sasuke's body leaning against the kitchen counter as he listened to Sakura talk about something animatedly. He watched as Sasuke would lean in closer to the girl every so often to hear her words better, sometimes even chuckling. Their closeness wasn't exactly foreign news to him, his two best friends were always close like that. Turning back to the redhead, Naruto shrugged, "No, not really."

Beaming, although a little astonished at the blond's response, he said, "Really? Nice, that means I have a shot." The redhead rubbed the back of his neck, slightly bashful, "You think she'll be interested?"

"What?" Naruto exclaimed. "No! What? You can't do that!"

The redhead raised a single eyebrow at his sudden reaction, "Why not? She's not taken. You just said that she's single."

"But Sakura's kind of spoken for," Naruto began. "Everyone knows that."

"So, are they together...?"

"Well, they're kinda, sorta, almost… actually, yeah. They're together."

Confused, the redhead sighed, "But you just said they weren't."

"Well it's complicated!" Naruto retorted hotly.

And it was complicated.

He didn't have a single clue at what was going on between Sasuke and Sakura but he was sure it was something. Something was brewing between the two for sure. Judging from how Sasuke looked at her a lot less longingly and more adoringly, he bet there had been a shift in where they stood with one another. Definitely beyond a friendship level, Naruto was certain. Whether it was official or not, he guessed he'll just have to wait and see.

* * *

{A/N}: And three weeks later... I present to you, the long awaited chapter ten, whoops~ But sorry guys, life has just been busy and college + work has not been any better. Also, thank you for all your kind wishes. Accident wasn't super major, no injuries, thankfully. Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter~ And if you don't like the slow pace of the story... then that's that. I have my reasons for slowly kindling their romance :)

Let me know what you think by leaving a review!

Oh! Thank you for getting this story to 100+ reviews and follows~

 **Thanks to: Dropsofchocolate, XxXFiReBeNdErXxX, FlowSoreto, LuminaJu, crazymel2008, xXxSmartCookiexXx, 7HeartAndSoul7, Sacred3, Emily da great, asma raya, Shannon Rei D. Sumner, uchiha. sakura. 23, Larshapeach, Izzy, Blueheart 16, memyselfandI98, Jeshimashe, EverBear01, ILoveSxS, jrenamae1, and multiple guest anons.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Eleven**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

"Sasuke, look at this cute thing!" Sakura cooed has she shoved her phone under his nose.

Sasuke took a quick side glance at it before returning his attention back to his accounting assignment. It was a video of a baby corgi, struggling to climb up the stairs with its short, potato size legs. Nothing that amazing. "Hn."

"It's such a cute little baby," Sakura continued as she hit the replay button again. "Corgis are adorable."

It was Sunday morning, and after coming back from an early breakfast, the two of them had decided to tackle both of their school work together at his place. They had a steady pace going until Kiba had decided to send Sakura a cute corgi video. Now said girl was leaning against his side with her back to him as she continued to search up more cute corgi videos. Her anatomy assignment long forgotten and abandoned on the coffee table.

"Have you ever thought about getting a dog, Sasuke?" She asked, still scrolling through her phone for more videos. "Or are you a cat person?"

"No, and I don't care. Either or is fine." Sighing, he closed his laptop and rubbed his eyes. He figured it was time for a break anyways, all of those numbers were starting to blur together. Looking over her shoulder, he watched another video with her, his arm resting on the back of the couch. As she leaned her head onto his arm, he asked, "Why? Do you want one?"

Surprised, Sakura looked up at him beaming, "Is that even a question? Of course I want one! Who in their right mind wouldn't want one?"

Shaking his head, he chuckled, "You're such a child, Sakura."

"Oh, whatever Sasuke." She stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm older than you anyways."

"Age is just a number. Doesn't mean you're wiser." And on that note, Sasuke quickly pushed himself off the couch and made a brisk dash to the kitchen before Sakura could comprehend his words.

Moments later, when the words finally sunk in, Sakura was racing after him in a flash. Jumping onto his back, she wrapped her legs around his torso. Putting him into a headlock, she shouted, "Ya! What did you just say you butthead?"

Chuckling, he attempted to wrestle her off his back but it was to no avail. Sakura's hold was inhumanly strong, especially for a petite girl that she was. So instead of continuing to fight her off, he slipped his arms around the back of her thighs to keep her from falling, and said, "I didn't say anything."

"Sure, like you didn't just mock me of my intelligence." She huffed in reply, her warm breath fanning against his neck.

"I did not mock you."

"Well, you implied it."

"Hn."

.

It was halfway through his finance lecture that he saw his phone light up, a message from certain pink haired girl. Sliding the message open with his finger, he couldn't help but roll his eyes at what he saw.

Sakura had stumbled across a corgi service dog on campus and took a selfie with it. He didn't bother reading the rest of the message when he saw that it was all in caps.

That girl loved corgis too much for her own good. She's been obsessed with them for about a month now and he was sure it was not healthy. Ever since that day, he's been getting nothing but pictures of corgis this and that every waking hour.

Taking a glance at his watch, he had some time before her last class ends. It was time to solve this unhealthy obsession of hers.

.

Walking out of the lecture hall, Sakura covered her mouth with her hand as she yawned before opening a text message from Sasuke.

' _I hate you for influencing me into doing this.'_

Sakura merely rolled her eyes at his words, Sasuke was so overly dramatic. Not to mention, she didn't have a clue at what he was even talking about. Therefore, why was he blaming her. Upon leaving the building, she was surprised to hear such a commotion of girls cooing and squealing outside. As she inched closer to crowd of girls, she spotted a sour looking Sasuke standing in the middle, holding a small tan bundle in his arms. When she caught his gaze, she couldn't help but laugh at the glare he gave her in return.

She managed to squeeze through the crowd of girls and stood next to him, much to the other girl's distaste. It was only then that she realized that the small bundle he was holding in his arms was a tiny baby corgi. Gasping, Sakura took the puppy from him, gushing, "Oh my gosh. What? When? Is he yours?"

"Ours."

It was only then that the crowd of girls around them sighed collectively and began to disband, going to their respective classes and leaving the two alone.

Sasuke watched as she snuggled the little thing close to her face, holding an absolute look of happiness on her features. Looking up at him, she giggled, "By the way, I did not influence you into doing anything, mister."

"Yes, you did."

Throwing her head back in laughter, she smiled. "I totally did not Sasuke."

"Yes." Sasuke grumbled. "By showing me and talking nonstop about it. Corgi this, corgi that."

"So, you basically got me one to shut me up?" Sakura raised a single eyebrow at him, a laugh threatening to slip past her lips.

Shoving his hands into his pocket, he started to walk away, sulking. "Hn. Consider it a cure to your unhealthy obsession."

"Sasuke, you make it sound like I'm addicted to drugs or something."

"Same difference."

"Same difference my ass," Sakura laughed.

.

With midterms approaching, Sakura rarely stayed at her dorm anymore. She would just end up sleeping over at Sasuke's place, since by the time they were done studying, it was way past midnight. With it being that late, Sasuke refuses to let her walk back to her place alone, yet he was "too lazy" to drive her back. But Sakura knew better. Lazy and Sasuke were words that should never be in the same sentence. It was an attempt at a sad excuse for her to stay over.

Not that she minded.

Coming out of the bathroom, teeth freshly brushed, Sakura found him lying on the bed on his stomach, reading something on his phone. She walked over to him and without a second thought, laid right on top, her chin resting on his shoulder. When Sasuke didn't say anything in return, Sakura daringly pressed her cheek against his.

When they were younger, Sakura was always surprised at how close the Uchiha would allow her to be to him. Naturally, she was a no personal space kind of girl. Meanwhile, Sasuke on the other hand, was all about personal space. He had hardly allowed anyone to invade it, always setting boundaries and distance. With her, he would simply drop them as if they never existed in the first place.

Removing her eyes from the news article that they were both reading, Sakura leaned in a little closer, eyes now closing. As she was about to give him a light peck on the check, she froze when she felt another warm set of lips enveloping her own instead of the plane of his cheekbones.

Sakura was completely unprepared.

Even with the pace that they were going recently, she would have figured something like this wouldn't shock her as much. She wasn't dumb. She's been noticing the not so subtle glances that Sasuke had been giving her, more particularly her lips. Growing up with him for so many years, seeing him frown, smirk, and talk, she would have thought she would know all there is to know about his lips. But never have she imagined how it would feel to have them pressed against her own. Well, she had but now that it was reality, his lips pressing on hers were a thousands times warmer than she had originally thought.

Sakura had been a frozen rigid the moment his lips landed on hers so when she felt his hand travel up on the base of her spine and back down again in a soothing motion, she relaxed and melted immediately against his hold. And when his tongue came out and teasingly licked her bottom lip, it sent her brain into a frenzy.

At first, their lips moved against each other slowly with his right hand holding her neck, his thumb caressing her jawline as their breaths began to mingle. They were both tentative and hesitant in the way they moved. Simple caresses, fleeting touches. And then without warning, Sakura pushed back against his lips a little harder causing the little caresses to become more firm, causing her breath to quicken.

Next thing she knew, she was flat on her back with him hovering over her, lips never breaking contact. Sasuke slanted his head, to get a better angle. The kiss quickly escalated to a full on passion filled makeout session, not that the either of them had minded at all.

Her fingers combed through his ebony locks before traveling down to the base of his neck. Locking her hands around his neck, she pulled him down so that his body would come flush with hers. Amidst all of this, Sasuke had slipped a hand under her shirt and began rubbing circles on her hip, sending tingles all throughout her body.

Suddenly, Sasuke pulled away breathlessly, resting his forehead against hers. As their eyes locked, the intensity of gaze sent shivers down her spine as her stomach coiled with warmth. Just about every emotion she could possibly imagine and feel in that moment, they were swirling around in his dark eyes too. So when she felt his warm breath fan across her nose, Sakura shut her eyes in anticipation for what was to come next.

This time, when his lips came down _hard_ on hers and enveloped them in such a strong urgency and passion, she wasn't surprised. Instead, she responded back with just the same intensity, if not a little more.

* * *

{A/N}: Another long awaited scene. A little late of an weekly update but yeah. It's the scene you guys have been waiting for so tell me what you all think by reviewing! Send me lots of them! If you do, I might update again on Tuesday since I don't have classes.

 **Thank you to: ILoveSxS, LuminaJu, flamestar8, MademoiselleRED, Emily da great, BeatOneHeart, FlowSoreto, Jeshimashe, Chocolatedrops, chizuruyamamoto, Kyah-chang, and multiple guest anons.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Twelve**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

When he felt her snuggle closer into his embrace, if it was even possible, he opened his eyes slowly. Yawning, he rubbed a hand down his face tiredly before reaching for his phone on the bedside table.

6:00am on the dot.

Returning the phone back to its original spot, Sasuke shifted his arm and pulled her closer to his chest as he placed his chin on top on her head. Not even bothering to brush away the pink strands of hair that was tickling his face, Sasuke began to run his fingers through her pink tress.

There was a gentle patter of rain against the windows and thunder rumbling somewhere in the distant. The little light that came through the blinds suggested that it was going to be a gloomy and cloudy day ahead of them for sure. But Sasuke didn't mind. He had always taking a liking to the rain. Rain meant a lot more people had decided to stay inside, which meant less early morning commotions. Couple that with the warmth from a particular pink haired girl, the day was going to be a good one.

Glancing down at the girl in his arms, he couldn't help but feel a burst of warmth in his chest at the sight of her curled into his embrace, deep in her sleep. No stress, no wrinkles of frustration. That's how he liked to see her. He hated seeing her in distress during the day over work or school, or whatever it was. As he brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, he felt her shift a little, clutching and hogging all of the blankets around her. Just as the first bite of the morning chill began to creep up his body from the lost of covers, he felt her hands slip under his shirt, wrapping them around his middle, warm and soft. Then in seconds, her small body was moulded to his own, sharing with him her body heat as easily as she did with her heart.

Sasuke was never one to let someone else become this close with him like this, but it's Sakura, and she's so different.

Sakura was just lovely, with her cheeky smiles and bright laughs. She was lovely in the talked she talked about the things she loved and laughed at the things that made her happy. She was lovely in the way she cared and wore her heart on her sleeve for everyone, but especially for him. She was lovely in the way her nose would wrinkle and her eyes would fired up when she was fighting for something she believed in. And she was lovely in the way she loved him in return, something he wouldn't have believed she would return.

To this day, Sasuke couldn't believe that someone like her had become such a big part in his life. No, Sakura was his life. For someone who hated bright things, he fell hard for her pastel locks and vibrant eyes from the first time he saw her, when they were five.

Laying a kiss on her forehead, he tried to pull his arm from under her head as gently as he could. As he managed to remove his hand and slipped out from under the covers, he heard a tiny whine slip from her lips as she poked a hand out, searching for him. Chuckling, Sasuke simply tucked the covers around her body even tighter and rested his hand behind her neck, rubbing it.

"Go back to sleep, Sakura. It's still early."

"Mhmm," she sighed sleepily. "... but where are you going?..."

"Gym."

Rolling over, she groaned, "That's disgusting, Sasuke."

"Hn, that's because you're lazy." He snorted in return as he began walking out of the room, letting her go back to sleep.

"You is right."

.

By the time that Sakura came around to actually waking up, the rain had cleared up. Hearing some noises coming from the kitchen, she figured that Sasuke had taken it upon himself to make them some breakfast. If it was still even morning. Taking a quick glance at the digital clock he had across the room, it read 10:08am.

Pushing the covers off, she shivered as the warmth immediately began to slip away. She swung her feet over the side of the bed and headed for the bathroom. Sakura turned on the faucet and splashed some water against her face to wake herself up. When she looked up, the reflection that greeted her back almost made her laugh. Her hair was a complete mess, strands of hair flying in every direction and a little tangled. Her face was also a little swollen and blotchy from the way she slept. But it was nothing in comparison to her lips.

Touching her lips briefly, she couldn't help but blush at the memories of what happened the night before. Something that was meant as an innocent peck turned into something much more, much greater. The grey lines they've been tip-toeing around for quite some time now, finally disappeared with a kiss. An intense one at that.

It was nice to know that the love that she had harbored for him for the past many years wasn't an unrequited love. The first time that she had met him, his ebony eyes and tiny smirk, even at a young age had her heart racing a 100mph. And those feelings would only grow in the years that followed their friendship. She fell for him the first time she saw him. There was nobody else for her, just Sasuke.

As she walked into the kitchen, she found Sasuke's back facing her.

The closer she got, whatever he was cooking made it to her senses and she didn't realized that she was hungry until now. Standing on her tippy toes, she rested her hands on his shoulders as she took a peek at what he was making. Waffles and hashbrowns, her favorites.

"Thought you would never wake up," Sasuke teased as he offered her a strawberry that he was cutting up.

"Well, what can I say," Sakura shrugged her shoulders, smiling, not one bit embarrassed. "I love my sleep."

"Who are you, Shikamaru?" He snorted. Shaking his head, he handed her a plate of food and led her to the kitchen counter, pulling out a stool for her.

"Oh, whatever, Sasuke. Leave me and my love for sleep alone. I'm not going to wake up at some ungodly hour to go workout like a manic." Glancing around the kitchen, Sakura frowned. She turned around and asked, "Wait, where is our kiddo at?"

"Who? Potato?" Sasuke asked. And before he could continue on, the sound of tiny paws hitting the hardwood floor echoed through the apartment. Once the corgi spotted Sasuke, he eagerly bounced towards the said Uchiha, yapping cutely at his ankles.

Choking on the tea that she was drinking from, Sakura gasped. " _Potato_? Sasuke, you did not just name him that." At the sound of his name, the corgi turned around and faced Sakura, its little tail wagging happily. "Oh gosh, you did…"

"What's wrong with it?"

"You named it after a food, a starch! What kind of person names their child 'potato'?" Sakura cried.

"You love potatoes," Sasuke began. Then reaching down to scratch the dog behind its ears, he said, "And he looks like a potato. He's literally the size of a potato."

"You're unbelieveable."

.

"You're not stepping out of the house in that." Sasuke announced, appearing in the doorway of his bedroom. Adjusting the buttons on his cuffs, he gave her a pointed.

Applying a quick layer of lip gloss to the center of her lips, she pouted. "Why not?"

Raising his eyebrow, he said incredulously, "Have you seen it?"

"Obviously." Sakura retorted, running her hands over the satin material. Giving herself a once over in the mirror, she nodded in approval. "It's the reason I choose it."

"You're going to have boys leeching off of you." He replied, eyeing her outfit with a frown.

"And that's why I have you." She winked. "You're going to shoo them away with your signature 'I-will-kill-you' Uchiha glare."

"That's besides the point," Sasuke argued. "We're in the middle of fall. It's cold. And you're wearing… practically nothing."

"Nothing that some thigh high boots and trench coat won't solve!"

As she threw on a long black trench coat over her skin tight, mini black dress, Sasuke took a seat on the bed and pulled her closer to him, allowing her to stand in between his legs. Reaching down, he helped her tie up the laces of her incredibly high heeled boots. Then nearing the end, Sasuke slid his fingers up the back of a thighs, earning a surprise squeak from the rosette, much to his amusement.

Standing up, he laid a gentle kiss on her forehead before grasping her hand. "There. Now let's go."

.

"Damn, girl! You look smoking!" Ino hollered across the table the moment that she spotted them amongst the crowd. Whistling at the rosette's attire, she shouted, "Well shoot, someone's about to get laid tonight."

Reaching over and slapping her best friend on the arm, Sakura hissed embarrassedly, "Thanks but chill Ino." As she looked over the varying types of alcohols that littered the group's table, she raised an eyebrow, "It's not even an hour yet and you guys finished that many bottles already?"

Naruto nodded a bit sheepishly as he held a rather red Hinata close to him, not from blushing but rather from the alcohol surprisingly. She never digged Hinata as a drinker. "We may have gone a little overboard…"

At his words, Sakura couldn't help but snort back a laugh, "You don't think."

"Oh relax, Forehead! Exams are finally over. We got to celebrate somehow." Ino said as she stumbled out of her seat and grasped Sakura by her shoulders. In an impatient motion, she shoved the girl out to the door. "And you, girl, need to let loose. And lose that coat! You look amazing, so show the world that! Isn't that correct, Sasuke?"

Sasuke simply just shrugged as he begrudgingly took the article of clothing that covered up her little black dress. As the blonde pulled her away energetically, he decided to take a seat next to Naruto and took the mixed drink that he was handed.

Before Sasuke could even take a sip of the drink, Naruto began nudging his arm with a knowing smile. "So, what's going on with you and Sakura, hm? I know it's something."

"Hn."

Laughing, Naruto egged him on. "Oh, don't try to play it off, teme. Anyone with eyes can see that something's going on between you two. You two official now?"

Once again, Sasuke just shrugged. Taking a sip of the alcohol in his hand, he hid a tiny smirk behind the rim of the glass cup. Obviously they were official, dobe.

They were official since the moment they met each other whether they knew it or not.

* * *

{A/N}: Sorry y'all. I didn't end up updating on earlier has planned. Literally updating with my phone's hotspot right now while my boyfriend is driving us to a party, lmao. But thank you so much for all the reviews from the last chapter! It was amazing~ So please keep it going, because I love reading them~

Anyways, hope you guys liked this chapter. Review and let me know what you guys think!

 **Thank you to: BeatOneHeart, LuminaJu, ILoveSxS, Kosmas, Emily da great, PeePeeroni, jrenamae1, A, Kyah-chang, Leiyn, Izzy, Gabbii23, Chocolatedrops, flamestar8, Cassie, Jeshimashe, moonluver92, dreamof08, chizuruyamamoto, and multiple guest anons.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Thirteen**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

The moment he stepped into the foyer, this mother was already there, taking his coat from him and asking excitedly, "How have you been, dear? How's college?" Hugging Sasuke tightly, she wiggled his body from side to side in her embrace. When she didn't see a particular pink haired girl, whom she was very fond of, trailing behind him, she asked him with a frown, "Where's Sakura? How is she doing?"

"She's fine, Ma." Sasuke patted his mother's shoulder as he pulled out of her tight embrace. "She caught a cold so she's at home."

"A cold?" Mikoto exclaimed, mouth agap. Smacking her son on the arm, she lectured, "Then what are you doing here? You should be taking care of the girl, Sasuke! I know I've taught you better than this."

Sasuke couldn't help but roll his eyes at his mother's over exaggeration. Leave it to his mother to make a typical cold seem like a dangerous disease. Resting his hands on her shoulders, he led the both of them into the kitchen. "Ma, she's fine. She just needs some rest. It's nothing but a minor cold."

"But that does not mean you can leave the girl alone like that, Sasuke." Mikoto continued to scold.

Sighing exasperatedly, Sasuke rested his elbows on the kitchen counter. "Then what do you want me to do?"

"Take care of her," Mikoto stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. As she reached inside a cupboard and pulled out a pot, she added, "And you're going to be bring her some warm soup courtesy of your mother. While I'm doing that, you should go buy her some tissues and medicine for the cold. You're welcome, darling."

"Ma," he sighed again. Reaching over her petite frame, he turned off the stove. "I already bought her some last night and I made her soup this morning. She's fine. She's actually the one that told me to go visit you."

"Oh,"

"Hn."

Smiling brightly, Mikoto clasped her hands over her chest, "She's such a lovely thing, isn't she?"

"She is."

"Well, regardless if she already has some soup, nothing beats my cooking!" Mikoto exclaimed as she turned the stove back on and proceeded to gather the ingredients for her signature tomato bisque. "And I'm sure you're hungry as well."

Feeling that it was rather pointless to tell her that he had already gotten something to eat with Naruto just before coming over, Sasuke kept quiet and allowed his mother to go on with her things. Not to mention, he would never turn down his mother's cooking anyways.

.

Halfway through the afternoon, Sasuke wasn't sure how but his mother had managed to roped him into assisting her with her rose bushes. He didn't have a particular green thumb when it came to these things but Mikoto did. So here he was, snipping the thorns off of roses and moving pots of them back and forth. But he didn't particularly mind. Sakura was right, it has been a long time since he had spent some time with his family. And he had missed his mother.

His mother, in comparison to the usual stoic Uchiha image, was a very talkative person. She had filled the whole afternoon with her constant chatter; asking him about college and Sakura, keeping him up to date with the family business, and the gossips floating around town.

And then out of the blue, he heard his mother say, "You know, I'm expecting some dark or pink haired grandchildren running around soon."

Stunned, he stopped what he was doing, holding a single rose limp in his hands, choking on his breath.

Not even bothering to look over at him, Mikoto continued, "Oh, don't look so shocked, Sasuke. We both know Itachi is not looking to settle down anytime soon with how the company is running. Since my first born can't give me any grandchildren, then my second one can, yes?"

Sighing, Sasuke replied, "Ma, we're not even finished with college yet? Not to mention, after graduation, Sakura still has pharmacy school to worry about. And I know she's not planning on settling down anytime soon. She wants to travel and do other things before then."

"Oh, so you have thought about it?" Mikoto asked, laughing at her son's slightly flushed cheeks. Reaching over to pinch his cheek, she beamed, "When are you planning on proposing then?"

"Not anytime soon, Ma."

Sighing in an over dramatic manner, Mikoto weeped, "My sons don't love me enough to get married and give me a bunch of adorable grandchildren."

As his mother continued to ramble on about her "miserable" life, Sasuke felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out, he didn't waste more than a second before answering it when he saw a splash of pink popping up on his screen.

"Sakura?" He whispered quietly the moment he got out of earshot from his mother.

"Hey, yeah, sorry for bothering you, Sasuke..,"

"You're never a bother, Sakura, you know that."

"But you're supposed to be spending quality time with your family."

"And I have," Sasuke replied, running a hand through his ebony locks. As he glanced over his shoulder at his mother, he found her grinning back at him widely, shooing him to continue on with his phone call with Sakura. Rolling his eyes, he said, "But I think my mom has been dying to get me back to you."

Over the phone, Sakura gave out a little giggle, "Sounds like Mikoto to me." After a couple of coughs, she said, "I'm not sure when you're planning on leaving, but can you swing by the pharmacy and grab me my prescription? Doctor just sent in a prescription for me."

"Yeah, I'll grab it." He told her softly. "Do you want anything else?"

"Ice cream please."

"Really, ice cream?" Sasuke chuckled.

"Okay, you know there's nothing wrong with eating a little bit of ice cream when you're sick. Plus I'm burning up and I need something to cool me down."

"That's why you have a cool wet cloth on your head, Sakura."

"Oh, whatever, Sasuke. Just get me some ice cream please."

"Yeah, alright. I'll get you some."

After exchanging a couple more words with her, Sasuke told her goodbye and that he'll see her soon. When he turned around to let his mother know that he was leaving soon, he was surprised to see her already standing behind him and holding out a soup container to him. Pushing him out of the room. "I already heard everything. So you, darling, need to get going and go back to Sakura."

Once they got to the front door, she gave him a light peck on the cheek and told him to promise her to come back again to visit, but with Sakura next time.

"I will, Ma."

"Good," Mikoto smiled. Pointing at the container, she said, "Make sure you heat it thoroughly, stirring it so that it doesn't heat up unevenly. And before she goes to bed, make her some hot tea with honey and lemon. Also, don't let her eat too much ice cream. I know she has a sweet tooth but it's not going to be good for recovery."

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke extended an arm out and hugged his mother goodbye. "I know, Ma. And I'm sure Sakura knows what her body needs."

"I know, I know." Mikoto replied, waving her hands. "I'm just being a worry wart as usual. Sakura is practically family. Well, she is family."

"Aa."

.

Stepping into his apartment, he turned around to lock the door before slipping into his house slippers. Just as he was about to walk into the kitchen, to put away all of the food, Potato came running out and started to yap and bite at his ankles in a whining manner.

"Alright, alright. I know. Give me a moment," Sasuke mumbled as he continued to store away the endless amount of food that his mother had urged him into taking home. The longer he continued to stay in the kitchen, the louder Potato began yapping. It got to a point to where the little pup was biting on the hem of his pants, a poor attempt in dragging him to wherever it was that he had in mind.

Giving up on putting away all the food in an organized manner, Sasuke sighed and looked down at Potato. Tilting his head in the direction of the bedroom, he said, "Alright, go on." Then without another word, the little thing was dashing away. As Sasuke followed him into the bedroom, he found himself looking at a rather unpleasant sight. And from the way that Potato was fully barking now, he was just as displeased at the sight as his owner.

There on his bed was Itachi, all cuddled up with a slightly annoyed and feverish looking Sakura. Itachi had the poor girl locked in his arms with his fingers were running through her pink locks.

Before he could even voice his displeasure, Itachi had beat him to it. "Took you long enough, little brother. Our poor Sakura here was about to die."

From the way that she was pressed against Itachi's chest, her voice was heavily muffled. But his keen ears could still make out her words, "He's exaggerating, Sasuke."

Patting her on the head, Itachi argued, "It is the truth! How could you leave our sweet Sakura here, shivering away to the cold. She's colder than a freezer, Sasuke."

As Sasuke reached her side, he immediately pulled her free from Itachi's tight embrace and into his own. True to his words, Itachi was right, Sakura was freezing. Tucking the comforter tighter around her, he rubbed his hand up and down her shoulders. Glancing down at her, he asked, "Do you need more layers?"

Shaking her head against his chest, she said, "No, I'm good."

Seeing that she was good and feeling a little warmer, Sasuke averted his gaze back to his brother, who was successfully shoved off from their bed, thanks to a rather aggressive Potato. With a smirk on his lips, Sasuke reached out to pat the pup proudly. "So why are you here? Aren't you suppose to be in China right now?"

"I was," Itachi hummed. "But, I got word from mother that Sakura was sick. So I came back to see how bad you are at taking care of her."

"It's a common cold. Not a deadly disease."

"Same difference," Itachi commented. Dismissing the silly conversation with a wave with his hand, he said, "I'm actually here to discuss some business matters with you."

Raising an eyebrow, Sasuke asked, "Such as…?"

Itachi sighed and tilted his head out to the living room, "Come on."

Making sure that Sakura was all situated and comfortable, he instructed Potato to keep her company. With his hands in his pockets, Sasuke walked out of the room. As soon as they were out of earshot, Sasuke said, "What matters?"

"Father wants you to run the branch company in China for its first couple of months. Maybe two or three months. But that might change depending on how things goes."

"Why?"

Itachi shrugged, "Not really sure. But it probably has something to do with our China partner's daughter being particularly fond of you."

At these words, Sasuke couldn't help but roll his eyes. "And?"

"It'll just make the process a little smoother."

"I highly doubt it. If anything, it's going to cause more problems."

"Guess we'll just see."

Shaking his head, Sasuke voiced out, "I didn't say that I would agree to it."

"You don't really have a choice this time, little brother." Itachi told him. Patting him on the shoulders, he said, "You backed out on the last couple of times already. Father's not going to let you go on this one. It's a big business deal that he's been trying to accomplish for a while now."

"I have Sakura, and he knows this." Sasuke retorted, slowly getting irritated by the whole conversation with each passing minute. "I have no desire to go to China and finesse around with some billionaire's daughter, who I have no interest in, to get a business deal."

"Well, welcome to the business world. Sometimes you win some, sometimes you lose some."

Groaning, Sasuke said, "Where the hell did father even get this idea from? It's so pointless."

"Just go Sasuke. She's really nice," Sakura croaked from the bedroom, shocking him out of his annoyed moment. Whipping his head up, he glared at Itachi, "You told her?"

"Why of course." Itachi nodded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Smiling lightly, he clapped his brother on the back, "I mean she's going too. Why wouldn't I tell her about it."

"What?"

Chuckling, Itachi pulled him into a headlock, ruffling his hair in the process. "Oh, why so serious baby brother? You looked like you were about to march into father's office and throw a huge tantrum." Tightening his hold on Sasuke, he said, "Did you really think father would do something like that? Have you go overseas and fool around with that chick, when you have a gorgeous girl waiting for you at home?"

"Wouldn't be surprised." Sasuke mumbled underneath his breath, which earned him a hard smack from his brother. After a couple more minutes of struggling, Itachi finally stopped.

Standing back up to his normal height, Itachi readjusted his black suit. As he walked away to the front door, he said with a smile, "I think you two will enjoy China in the winter." Before walking out the door, he popped back in and threw a gold package at Sasuke with a wink. "Just don't _enjoy_ it too much."

Confused by his brother's words, Sasuke looked down at the gold box that he caught. Groaning, he tossed the box onto the side table and yanked the door back open, fully intent on kicking Itachi's ass.

It was a fucking box of condoms.

* * *

{A/N}: Stressful week so I decided it was time for me to relax and bust out the rest of this chapter lol. I've been busy and had a bit of writer's block. But here's the next chapter with the return of classic teasing Itachi. (Also, it's a lowkey slow burn story y'all, they haven't slept with each other yet.) Hoped you guys liked it as much as I did.

If you did, tell me what you think with a review!

 **Thank you to: jrenamae1, moonluver92, Chocolatedrops, Kyah-chang, ZainaJay, MademoiselleRED, Kosmas, ILoveSxS, ss. 2u2k. ss, LuminaJu, A, Anya Ishikawa, PeePeeroni, orangetree, uchihaforever, chizuruyamamoto, Yagami Saika, and multiple guest anons.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Fourteen**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

Turning into the library's culsac, Sasuke looked around for a splash of pink amongst the crowd of students filing out from their exam rooms. As he shifted the car into park near the end of the path, he found her coming down the stairs, holding her phone to her ear.

"I'm park down by the end of the staircase." He told her as he caught her looking around aimlessly, phone still pressed against her ear. And at that moment, she turned her head and smiled as their eyes made contact with each other. Sakura gave a little wave of her hand before ending their call.

Sasuke watched as she came bouncing down the steps before swinging the passenger side door open, bringing all of the early winter breeze in with her. As she got situated, he asked, "How was your biochemistry exam?"

Shrugging her shoulders, she reached over to pet Potato on the head. "Not too bad I guess."

"You did good then."

"Oh, okay, I wouldn't say that." She laughed. "But we'll see." Allowing Potato to climb into her lab, she picked him up and nuzzled him with her nose. "That's for something to worry about for another week. Because it's time for China! Are you ready Potato? First overseas trip with the family."

"You're so overdramatic, Sakura."

"And?"

"And you're annoying."

Laughing brightly, Sakura gave him and wink. "Nothing that I haven't heard before, Sasuke. You tell me that every moment you get."

"That's because you are." He chastised, but more so in a teasing manner. As they pulled up to a red light, Sasuke reached over and grasped her hands in his. Caressing her knuckles with the pad of his thumb, he brought it up to his lips and placed a tender kiss on it. "It's what makes you special."

Rolling her eyes, Sakura commented, "Of course… of all the things about me that you could be attracted to, you find my annoying nature the most attractive."

"Who said that you were attractive?"

Gasping, she withdrew her hand from his hold and held it against her chest. "You're calling me unattractive, now? What kind of boyfriend calls his girl unattractive."

Shaking his head, Sasuke couldn't help but let a smile slip onto his lips. Taking her hand again, "You know that that's far from the truth. If you were anything less of attractive, then neither me or Naruto would have struggled so hard to protect you from hormone raging boys through our middle school days."

"It's not my fault, I ended up with some decent genes from my parents," Sakura giggled, her anger slowly fading away as she knew that he was only teasing her.

Sasuke only nodded in agreement. But Sakura didn't just look decent. Regardless of what anyone had to say, she was beautiful.

.

Sasuke watched as Sakura rubbed her face tiredly and yawned like a little baby, eyes a complete daze. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw one of his attendants come to his side, but he paid no heed to what they had to say. Instead, he reached out and pulled Sakura closer to him. Slipping a hand behind her ear, he began to slowly caress her cheek with his thumb. Eyes casting downwards to met with hers, Sasuke asked, "Sleepy?"

Sakura simply nodded her head slowly in return, not before resting it against his shoulder.

Brushing a couple of baby hairs out of her eyes, he hummed knowingly. He figured that she was tired. It was 4am, and they were making a connecting flight, one that was supposed to only last thirty minutes, ended up turning into a four hour layover.

He allowed her into his embrace as he slipped an arm around her torso to support her sleeping body. Then giving her a quick peck on the head, he turned around and listened to what the attendant had to say.

"We're sorry for the delay sir. They're just doing a few more precautionary checks before boarding. We'll be ready for take off soon."

Sasuke didn't say anything in return, except acknowledged the attendant with a curt nod. Nothing that he said was any new from the last time they had came over to give him an update on the delayed takeoff.

When Sakura tried to remove her head from his shoulder, Sasuke pulled her back, grumbling, "Just sleep, Sakura. You need it."

"I'm fine," she mumbled back, words barely coherent.

"Hn." Sasuke simply pulled her back into his embrace and cradled her head onto his shoulder, fingers running through her pink locks. "Sleep. I'll wake you up with we're there."

Voice laced with sleep, Sakura smiled, "How are you going to get me on the plane then? Carry me?"

"Hn."

Peeping one eye open, she whispered, "You're not actually going to do that, are you?" When he didn't say anything in return, she closed her eyes again, not before mumbling, "You're insane. I'm like a whale. Have you seen how much I ate?"

Sasuke still didn't say anything in return as he continued to hold her close to him, fingers absently running through her pink locks and down her back. He did this for a while until he felt her breath even out, warm air fanning against the base of his neck. Sneaking a quick kiss to her forehead, he held her body a little tighter. Hiding a small smirk on his lips behind her pink locks, he shook his head.

On the contrary to what Sakura had to say about her weight, she was light as a feather. So yes, he was going to carry her onto the plane. What kind of man would he be if he didn't. Uchiha men aren't weak.

.

The moment that they had landed, the sun was already risen and taken it's place high up in the sky. They barely had a chance to settle down into their apartment together before Sasuke had to leave for the day. And that was more than eight hours ago.

Suppressing the yawn that was trying to escape, Sasuke listened as his assistant rambled on about the rest of the schedule for the day.

"... and after the conference call with the design department, there's a meeting with the Umio Corporations in regards to the revised contract."

The work was never ending, and he had expected that. But that didn't lessen how dreadful it was. As the assistant continued on, the more he felt a headache beginning to rage on inside his head. Too much was going on and he needed it to stop.

Uponing turning the corner into his office's hallway, the secretary outside his door had a phone pressed against her ear and she was mentioning something about it and his office. But with all that was going on, the phone ringing and his assistant still going about his schedule, he didn't register anything she said. With the last few steps remaining before he reached his safe haven, he called his office, he stop listening to what the assistant even had to say.

"Then at 5pm, your father has scheduled a dinner with our chinese partner at the hot pot restaurant down the block. Also, there's a few paperworks that needs your stamp of -." The assistant stopped abruptly mid-sentence as he noticed the younger Uchiha's hand on his spreadsheet. Looking up, he found Sasuke sighing heavily and pinching the bridge of his nose. Slightly concerned, he asked, "Sir?"

Recomposing himself, Sasuke nodded. As he pulled on the door handle to his office, he grumbled, "Just email it to me. The schedule." And that's how he escaped into his safe place.

Finally peace and quiet, minus the muffled sounds of printers and phones ringing from outside his office. Ruffling his hair tiredly, he pulled on the base of his tie, loosening it a bit.

"Rough first day?"

Eyes shooting open, Sasuke narrowed in on the source of the voice. He was definitely not expecting anyone to be in his office. But when he saw that it came from voice of his dear rosette, Sasuke tense shoulders relaxed instantly. Groaning, he mumbled, "You wouldn't even believe it."

He couldn't help but smile lightly at the sound of her bright, delicate laugh ringing throughout the room. As he took a seat at his desk, he watched as she came around the desk, stood behind his chair, and slipped her arms around his neck, with her chin resting gently on his shoulder.

After opening a few of his emails, Sasuke tipped his head back slightly, catching her gentle gaze, "I thought you would still be asleep."

With a shrug of her shoulders, she said, "I could be. But I figured a certain someone might need a mood booster after their first day on the job. And I was correct."

"Hn."

"Have you eaten anything yet?" Sakura asked. She began to run her fingers through his ebony locks as she continued to peer over his shoulders at his work.

Sasuke simply shook his head, which earned him an appalled gasp from Sakura. Smacking him on the shoulders, she exclaimed, "Are you crazy? I know you're busy, but at least slip in a quick meal or even snack or something!"

"Didn't think about it."

Rolling her eyes, she glared at him, a frown marring her soft features. "You're unbelievable, Uchiha." She reached over his body and grabbed the wireless mouse from his hand. Pulling on his hand, she grumbled, "You mister, need to eat. Therefore, until I've stuffed you to to brim with food, you won't be getting this mouse back."

Shoulders shaking lightly in laughter at her childish antics, Sasuke said as he followed her out, "You know I can just ask Daisuke to bring me another one."

"No you won't." Sakura huffed, still pulling him along. As they left the office, Sakura turned and told his secretary, "I know he has a conference call soon, but he needs to be fed. We're just going down to the company's cafe. I promise he'll be back in time."

And without another word, Sakura had successfully dragged him away from the workload that was commanding his attention and into the elevator. Pressing the button to go down, Sakura gave him a side glare, much to his amusement.

Sakura could be cute whenever she wanted to be. And this certainly one of those moments, whether she wanted to be or not. There was no denying that his fired up, blossom haired girlfriend was anything less than adorable.

"Unbelievable."

Sasuke said nothing in return but smirked as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. It was only then that he realized that they weren't the only two people in the elevator. Eyes widening a mere centimeter, he made a quick bow at their Chinese partner, who in return did the same. As he returned to his regular height, he felt his heart stop for a second as he landed on the person standing beside the man.

She extended a hand out to him, smiling brightly, "The name's Ayame and you must be Sasuke, the man that my father has spoken so fondly of."

Hesitantly, he returned the handshake. Out of the corner of his eyes, he watched Sakura for her reaction. Surprisingly, she still held her onto her bright and polite demeanor. But he saw how she had her hands clenching and unclenching nervously behind her back. Attempting to give her some reassurance, he subtly stepped back and stood a little closer to her.

Seeing that everyone was heading to the same floor, Teuchi laughed heartily. "You're heading to the cafe as well, Mr. Uchiha? Well that's perfect then!" He urged his daughter to come forward and motioned between the two. "Why don't you accompany my daughter for a quick lunch? Stir some conservation or even potential interests with one another."

* * *

{A/N}: The end of the semester is nearing to a close, so I've been busy with studying and what not. Quite a long awaited update I'm sure. It might not be the longest of chapters, but I hope you guys like it. I will be posting two new stories soon, one is a multi-fic titled _Deceptive_ and the other is a kingofthesharingan's 31 days of SasuSaku-Mas, just a drabble series. So if you're looking for something to read until the next update, you should check those two out sometime over the weekend when I will post them!

Anyways, cheer me up as I study for my finals with some reviews!

 **Thank you to: ILoveSxS, ss. 2u2k. ss, moonluver92, jrenamae1, Emily da great, Larshapeach, PeePeeroni, the-fallen-leaves, LuminaJu, The Green Blossom, chizuruyamamoto, misssbehavin, Bsmiles123, and multiple guest anons.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Fifteen**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

Sasuke had knew that their China business partner would attempt to play the role of a matchmaker between him and his daughter. And during the whole time, Sasuke had made sure not to over step his boundaries and anger the old man. But at this point, he was beyond annoyed because anyone with two eyes can definitely see that he's no longer on the market.

Lips pressed into a firm line, Sasuke placed a tender hand on the lower part of Sakura's back, giving her a slight nudge to step forward. His eyes stayed on the daughter for a moment longer before flicking over to the old man. "Actually, I have plans on showing my girlfriend around her new workplace." Tilting his head towards her direction, Sasuke continued, "Mr. Soto, Haruno Sakura. Sakura, Mr. Soto."

Taken aback by the sudden introduction, Teuchi had some trouble coming up with a reply. Thankfully, saving them all from an awkward moment of silence, his daughter sent him a glare, whispering harshly, "See Dad! I told you they were together, but you didn't believe me! I know business is important but I'm not going to be a homewrecker in the process."

At her choice of words, Sakura couldn't help but swallow her laugh beside him. He was close to doing the same, but he had a business facade to uphold. Clearing his throat, he bid the two goodbye before leading Sakura out of the elevator. They barely made it more than five steps out, when they heard the clicking sounds of a heels.

"Hey, sorry about that. My father can be a little… you know." Ayame said as she reached them. "Please don't take his actions to heart."

Smiling, Sakura waved her off. "It's not a problem. We get it a lot."

"Still," Ayame argued, "it doesn't mean that it should happen. Anyways, I should probably let you guys go and enjoy your time together. If you need anything, feel free to give me call. I can give you guys a tour of the city sometime too!"

After suggesting a few more things to do around in the city and what to eat, she finally left the couple to themselves as she walked back to where her stunned father stood.

As they moved closer to the cafe, Sakura couldn't help but say, "Well she's a lot nicer than I thought. That's certainly a first."

"Hn," Sasuke hummed in agreement as he stepped in line to order.

"She's not too bad. Maybe I can go shopping with her in my free time." Sakura smiled, linking her arms through his. "She's definitely not Ino, but I think that she'll do."

"So in other words, 'don't have a heart attack when you see the credit card bill Sasuke.'" He joked, eyes narrowing on her smiling lips in a knowing manner.

"Maybe," Sakura replied as she sent him a playful wink before stepping forward in the line and ordering something for the both of them.

.

As days into weeks, and then before the two of them knew it, they were already a month into their stay in the foreign country. And as they did so, their days consisted of nothing more but meetings and paperwork. Sasuke had the company to worry about while Sakura had her internship at one of their branch hospitals. Sightseeing and becoming tourists in the city were long forgotten ideas. They barely had time to breathe, much less to think about dates.

Locking the door behind him, Sasuke ran a tired hand through his hair before tossing his suit jacket over the couch. With a set of documents to review in his hand, he slowly made his way to their shared bedroom. Considering how late it was, he figured that Sakura would have gone to sleep by now.

Usually, their roles were quite opposite, with him coming home much earlier than her. Her hospital shifts, often times, would run late into the night. And each night, around the early hours of the morning, he would feel her slip under the sheets and wrap her arms around him, awakening him from his sleep with her warmth. But since lately, he's been staying much later at the office than normal.

Sasuke pushed the door open and found her curling into his side of the bed, sleeping soundly with her pink locks sprayed out all around her. Potato was resting at the foot of the bed, who open his eyes as he entered. After seeing it was just his owner, the pup went straight back to sleep. As he passed by, Sasuke bent down to give him an ear rub. He may be little but Potato was the perfect mini guard dog for them. Such a feisty thing in a cuddly body, very similar to the sleeping girl just a feet away.

Judging from the medical textbook that she had clutched in her hand, he guessed that she had to tried to stay up and wait for him to come home. Regardless of how many times he had fought with her on that issue, her stubborn self wouldn't accept it. With a light smile slipping onto his lips, he took the book out of her hands and set it aside on the nightstand before getting into the bed, pulling her close to his body. Resting his chin on the top of her head, he breathed her in, feeling his body relax immediately. The stress from the day dissipated completely. Mindlessly running his fingers through her soft locks, he began reading over the contracts that he brought home.

It wasn't until around an hour later that Sakura began to stir in his arms and stretching her arms in a rather ungraceful manner, accidently smacking him in the face in the progress. At the sudden contact, Sakura immediately rose from her sleep, gasping as she whipped her head around.

Abandoning the documents he was reading, Sasuke began to sulkily nurse his throbbing cheek. Eyes narrowing and with his voice dripping with sarcasm, "Well hello to you too."

Voice still heavy with sleep, Sakura exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! Sasuke! Are you okay? I'm so sorry." Quickly removing his hand and taking his face in her own, she began to inspect the damage. Seeing how it was just turning red from the hit and not appearing to bruise anytime soon, she withdrew her hands back into her lap and let out a sigh of relief. Adjusting herself in his arms, Sakura took notice of the stack of papers he had. "Rough day?"

"Hn, you could say."

"When did you come home?" Sakura asked as she looked up at his face. She assumed that it wasn't too long ago, based on the fact that he was still in his work attire.

"Maybe an hour ago."

Thumbing his black tie, she nodded. "I figured so." With one glance at the watch on his wrist, it read three o'clock. Sighing, she took the papers out of his hand and whispered, "You should get some sleep Sasuke."

"I will," Sasuke promised as he retrieved his papers, "once I finish this contract. I need it for the meeting in the morning."

"No, you need to go shower and sleep." Sakura argued, taking the papers back. "Not to mention you wake up early too. You can finish it then." Not letting him put in another word, Sakura began to push him out of the bed, ordering Potato to lead him to the bathroom.

Grumbling some incoherent words, Sasuke began to take off his tie and walked away with Potato tailing at his heels. Satisfied, Sakura made herself comfortable in their bed and closed her eyes.

.

"Sasuke! Why didn't you wake me up?"

He watched in amusement as the tiny flying blob of pink that he called his girlfriend run around in their apartment with one hand brushing her teeth and the other searching for an outfit to wear. Blowing on his steaming cup of black coffee, he took a sip out of it, saying, "Actually I did. Multiple times."

And he did. He even gave her an extra thirty minutes of sleep before attempting to get her out of bed. He had tried everything in the books; from soft coaxing whispers, good morning kisses, gentle tickles, to even promises of double chocolate chip pancakes. After she had threatened to kill him later that night in his sleep if he wouldn't let her rest, he gave up.

"Well, you should have tried a couple times more." She shouted back from the bathroom.

"I value my life too much to do that."

Trying to wake up a sleeping Sakura was equivalent to waking up a sleeping bear. The girl valued her sleep way too much. And with the long day that the both of them had ahead of them, he was not looking to set the girl off in a bad mood. Sasuke knew she would be mad at him for not waking her up, but it was better for her to be late than be grumpy and might he say, a little bitchy.

Sasuke scrolled through a couple of his emails as he heard her run by him in a rush before backtracking and shoving a hairbrush into his hands. "Put your phone down and help me out a little here, Sasuke."

Pressing his lips into a thin line order to prevent the snort that was about to escape, he accepted the job and got to working on taming her wild locks. As he did this, Sakura hastily straightened her outfit and clasped on her watch. After checking her reflection on his phone a couple more times, she turned around while he was in mid-brush, and asked, "So how do I look?"

"Beautiful."

Taking the brush out of her hands, her face flushed a pretty pink, coughing, "Okay, let's be modest here."

"I am." Sasuke smirked.

"Nuh-uh."

Sasuke took the brush out of her hand and set it on the counter before pulling her into his embrace. "You are. Now come here." With her waking up late, he hadn't gotten much of any time with her. Breathing in her freshly washed hair, he sighed in content as he felt her hands slip underneath his suit jacket, winding tightly around his torso. Just as the both of them began to get comfortable in each other arms, Sasuke's phone began vibrating, rather loudly, on the kitchen counter.

Taking a peek at it, he saw that it was his assistant calling. What a cock blocker.

Sakura couldn't help but let out a little giggle at his sour expression. Standing on her tippy toes, she gave him a soft peck on the lips, "Give the guy a break. He's just doing his job, Sasuke."

"And I would like a second with my girl without any interruptions." Sasuke countered with a frown. "But we can't have everything in life can we."

"No, we can't." Sakura laughed. Handling him all of his stuff, she started pushing him towards the door. "Come on, we have a meeting to get to. So, let's go. You can get your cuddles later."

* * *

{A/N}: My boyfriend started to nag me about updating my stories and publishing the ones that have been in draft mode since forever... so here's the long awaited chapter. Lots of fluff to make up for my absence. After finals, I just wanted to relax so I didn't update as much as I had wanted too. Not to mention, work got pretty hectic as well. But I am back! So do look forward to updates and new stories.

As always, remember to leave me a review of what you think!

 **Thank you to:** Someone, Emily da great, Larshapeach, Shannon Rei D. Sumner, PeePeeroni, ILoveSxS, SilG, BookWormFT, misssbehavin, chizuruyamamoto, moonluver92, LuminaJu, Jeshimashe, kissandwink, and multiple guest anons.


	16. Chapter 16

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Sixteen**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

After she presented her part to the board, it didn't take her long before her interest in the meeting began to slip away. Economics and finance had always bored her to death. Sakura had tried to understand it, since it was what Sasuke majored in and his career. But, it was so boring. The only reason that she tagged along to these meetings was simply for moral support, aside from the occasional times where she had to present information on the hospitals. It could also have something to do with the promise that Sasuke kept each time on treating her out to a good lunch. And she was not about to turn down good food.

As someone stepped up to discuss the financial standing of the companies and their partners, Sakura began to mindlessly scroll away on her phone.

In the middle of replying back to a couple of emails, a message from Akame popped up. Not bothering to read what it was really about, Sakura clicked on the link that she had sent over. Based on the all caps writing and trailing exclamation points, it probably had to do something with shoes. And she wasn't wrong.

The pair of shoes were gorgeous.

In the short time that she had gotten to know the girl, Akame had an amazing fashion sense, especially when it came to shoes. She was probably the reason why Sakura had more than enough shoes to fill an entire suitcase once they leave China. But hey, a girl can never have too many shoes.

Which was why she immediately sent a screenshot of the shoes to Sasuke, followed by the words, ' _NEED!'_

Similar to the pretty rosette sitting by his side, Sasuke had lost interest in the meeting way before they even began. Although he made sure to be as attentive as possible when she was presenting. But for the rest of it, he was just there for show really. All of the things that they were going over in the meeting was already briefed to him earlier that week by his father and Itachi. It was nothing but old news.

So when he saw that his girlfriend had sent him a distraction amidst the meeting, he was more than glad to take it.

Upon opening the message that Sakura had just sent him, Sasuke couldn't help but snort in amusement. Quietly that is. He knew better than to show that he wasn't paying attention to the meeting.

Quickly typing a reply back, he said, ' _That's a want. It's not a need.'_

And her response was just as fast, ' _No, I need this pair in my life Sasuke.'_

' _You've said that with the last three pairs you've bought. Plus, don't you already have a pair in that color?'_

' _And?'_

Sasuke simply shook his head, the corners of his lips turning upwards. Women are way too crazy and obsessed with high heels. Reaching into his suit jacket, he pulled out his wallet. And taking out one of his cards, he gently tossed it into her lap, startling her out of her shopaholic stupor.

He watched as her brows knit together in confusion. Giving him a weird look, she mouthed, ' _What the hell?'_

' _Go ahead, you shopaholic. Buy the shoes.'_

After reading his text, she whipped around in her chair, eyes bulging. Eyes going back and forth from him, the card, and then to shoes. ' _I was just joking Sasuke. I obviously do not need it.'_

' _Hn. Just buy it. I've already accepted the fact that our home is going to be storage for your growing collection of heels.'_

' _You right.'_

' _Aren't I always?'_ Sasuke smirked as he watched as she began to place her order.

Uchiha men were always correct. Well, most of the time anyways.

.

The meeting ended a few minutes ago, and by this point, the room was cleared aside from the two of them. Despite looking over the online shopping site for what seemed like hours, Sakura was still mindlessly scrolling away and all the while adding a new pair of shoes to her chart every now and then. Coming up behind her, Sasuke placed his hands on either side of her chair, peeking over her shoulder on the status of her current shopping spree.

"Still not finished?" When he got a simple shake of the head in response, Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle. "What's taking so long, hm?"

"Can't decide which shoe color to pick for this one."

"Let me see," Sasuke began to scroll through each color of the shoes as she held the phone in her hands. After a couple minutes, he told her, "You don't have this one yet." Without waiting for her to agree with him, Sasuke added the pair to the chart and placed the order in one swift click.

"You spoil me way too much, Sasuke." Sakura told him with a pout.

"And there's nothing wrong with it." Just as he pulled away, Sasuke bent down and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. And as he did that, the both of them failed to notice that there was someone else in the room.

When Sasuke stood up to his normal height, he found a short, brunette girl in a white coat clutching some paperwork in her hands, standing by the door. Giving her a raised eyebrow, he asked, "Can we help you?"

"O-oh, I'm sorry for intruding." She bowed her head in apology after snapping out of her daze. Pointing her thumb over her shoulder, she said, "The secretary out front told me that I would be able to find Sakura here."

At the mentioning of her name, Sakura poked out from behind him and waved at her fellow intern. "Hey, Natsuki. Did the ward need me for something?"

Natsuki shook her head, "Oh, no. I just had some questions about the recent patients' charts."

"Oh, sure!" Gathering her stuff, Sakura gave Sasuke a light squeeze on the shoulder before walking over to Natsuki. "I have some time before lunch. We can go now if you want."

"Yeah, sure."

.

"Aside from that, I wouldn't be too worry. He should be able to continue on with his current medication and its strength." Sakura told her with a smile as she gave Natsuki the patient's chart back. "Any other questions?"

"No, that's all. I figured that was the case."

"Hmm. Just follow your gut, well… not really. But you know what I mean." Sakura laughed. "But you're top of your class too, so don't doubt your knowledge."

"Thanks." Natsuki watched as Sakura get up and put on her winter coat. Insteading of letting her walk out alone, Natsuki decided to tag along.

Turning the corner into the hallways, Natsuki fidgeted with the papers in her hands and made eye contact with the rosette. "So… you're going out for lunch now?"

Sakura nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I'm starving. I've been waiting for lunch to come all morning."

"Are you grabbing lunch with someone?"

"Actually I am." Sakura told her, but quickly added, "But if you want to grab lunch or even dinner sometime, I'm totally down for it!"

Natsuki simply nodded her head. As they continued their way down the hallways, Sakura kept the conversation flowing while Natsuki would reply back with a nod or single worded answers. And when Sakura's small talk began to die down, she asked cautiously, "You seem pretty close with the Uchiha's Corp's new CEO?"

"Oh, Sasuke?"

Stunned by Sakura's casual tone when speaking about their boss, Natuski nodded. "Yeah…"

Just as Sakura opened her mouth to reply back, someone had suddenly spun her around and kissed her chastely on the lips. The action had taken her off guard completely, leaving both her and Natsuki shocked to the core, courtesy of non-other than Sasuke himself. It happened all in the span of a minute.

The said man continued walking away with a rather stoic face, aside from the tiny smirk he held. Behind him, his assistant began to chastised him about his actions but he merely shrugged them off as if it was no big deal. But in reality, his action shook the whole roome. The moment that Sasuke was out of ear shot, the hospital staff began to gossip rather loudly around them, saying things that had Sakura blushing red.

"I told you they were together!"

"No wonder she's allowed in on the their meetings."

"I heard that they're getting engaged soon."

"That's what I heard too."

"I mean that would explain why she's practically glowing every day. I mean, if I had a guy to bed like that, I would be too."

And after that, the comments just got worse and worse. If Sakura had to stay any longer, she didn't think she would be able to talk to any of them in the future without fainting from embarrassment. Bidding everyone a timid goodbye, she pretty much ran out of there, leaving a red faced Natsuki in her wake.

.

"Sasuke, that was totally uncalled for!"

"Hn." Sasuke smirked as he took a sip of his tea. "And?"

"Well," Sakura began. Stabbing her fork into a piece of steak on her plate, annoyed, "It was such an inappropriate to do in that setting."

"I'm the boss, aren't I?" He questioned, amusement lacing his tone. "And as the boss, I said that what I did was very appropriate."

"Then you're being biased." She retorted, pointing her fork accusingly at him with narrowed eyes. "Plus you're not suppose to abuse your powers like that."

"What I did didn't hurt anyone did it?"

"Well…. No…"

"Then I didn't abuse my authority." He smirked, all before adding, "Plus you liked it anyways."

"Says who?" Sakura's face was turning the same shade as her hair. Averting her gaze away from him, she began to stuff more food into her mouth, which earned her an ' _I thought so'_ from Sasuke.

* * *

{A/N}: A bit of a short chapter and delayed update but I hope you guys liked it. Happy Lunar New Year everyone! And to all of my Viet readers out there, **Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!** I was busy with family celebrations yesterday, so I wasn't able to post this until now.

As always leave me a **review**! I hope to see more **reviews** with this chapter, because I see you, you silent readers~

 **Thank you to:** chizuruyamamoto, P. C. Y. E. X. O. 0714, Yui Kuran, ILoveSxS, LuminaJu, Kathlinee, BookWormFT, BoycottingLove, Wangz, and a guest anon.


	17. Chapter 17

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Seventeen**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

"Oh, girl. You and yo man is better than any soap opera out there." Akame laughed loudly as Sakura retold of the events that happened in the past week that caused the level of gossipping around the ward to increase immensely.

"Oh my gosh, can you not Akame? You're not helping the situation at all." The rosette groaned as she dropped her head into the palm of her hands and messing her hair in the process.

"It totally is, I'm telling you." Akame continued. "Like seriously, where's the popcorn? I'm going to need same." To egg Sakura on even more, she even went as far as opening up random cabinets in search for her buttery and delightful snack.

Swatting her hands away from her desk, Sakura retorted hotly, "Ha ha, very funny."

"Relax, Sakura." Akame said as she plopped back down into the seat right across of her. "I honestly don't see anything wrong with what he did. A little on the extra side, but hey, if I had you as a girlfriend, I would have done the same. You're hot."

Unable to keep a straight face after what Akame had said, Sakura began to laugh uncontrollably. As she did so, Akame couldn't help but laugh along with her at the statement that she just made.

"Honestly, if I didn't have him, you would have fitted into my type as well."

"Yeah, but if you floated the other way, you would have been taken by Ino anyways." Akame pouted before sighing exasperatedly, "What does a girl have to do a land a smoking hot partner?"

"Search for one on the internet? Landasmokinghotpartner .com?" Sakura suggested jokingly, earning her a shove on the shoulder. "Oh okay, you know I didn't mean that." Digging into one of her desk drawers, she pulled out a gold embossed invitation, and handed it to Akame. As Akame opened the invitation, Sakura told her. "There's a gala for the company later this month. You should go. I'm sure your dad has already told you about it." Shrugging her shoulders, Sakura gave her a mischievous smile. "Who knows, maybe you'll find Mr. Smoking Hot there."

Eyeing the girl knowingly, Akame said, "You know someone and you're trying to play matchmaker aren't you?"

"Am I?"

"That's what I'm asking."

"Who knows." Sakura winked.

Glaring her down for a moment longer, Akame questioned the rosette's crazy motives. But not more than a second later, she hugged the invitation close to her heart, exclaiming, "Oh my gosh! Yes! Please work your matchmaking, cupid powers on me, I beg of you. I've been single for so long."

Patting her friend on the back comfortingly, Sakura laughed at Akame's over the top reaction. "There, there. Your fairy godmother is here to save the day."

"Bless your soul."

"Hmm."

"Have you found a dress for the event yet?"

"I think so," Sakura began as she racked her mind for the answer. And then it dawned on her that Sasuke once mentioned over lunch a while back that he had already bought a dress for her. "Actually, yeah. I do have a dress."

"Let me guess, Sasuke bought you one already."

"Maybe."

Rolling her eyes, Akame slammed her hands down on Sakura's desk dramatically, saying, "Just marry the man already girl."

"I will." Sakura couldn't help but let the fits of laughters escape her body at her friend's request. Once she had calmed down, she added, "Once it's the right time."

"And when is that?"

"Who knows? Only time will tell."

"Time for me to start talking about it to Sasuke then." Akame nodded confidently.

"Okay, you need to slow down there. We're still young, Akame. We have time. No need to rush." Sakura assured the girl. "Plus, when the time comes, we'll know."

"It better be before I turn like forty." Akame huffed. "Didn't you say it took you guys until college to get together? Lord knows when you two will actually tie the knot."

"You're definitely exaggerating now."

"Why thank you. That's what I do best, Sakura."

"No shit."

"And that's why you love me." Akame said sweetly as she threw in a heart sign for good measures. "Isn't that right?"

"Hmm."

.

Stepping past the automatic doors, Sakura groaned the moment that she was outside. It had been raining all week, today included, and it didn't show any signs of letting up. If anything, it was raining harder. It was downpouring out with the wind blowing so hard that the rain began going in the horizontal direction. Based on the weather they've had all week, you would think that she would have remembered to bring an umbrella. But she didn't.

Pulling her white coat closer around her body, Sakura cried, "Mr. Almighty up there, we've had enough rain already, please stop, I beg of you." And the answer she got back was an extremely loud clap of thunder that shook her to the core. Rolling her eyes, she mumbled, "Nevermind…"

Mentally preparing herself and bracing her body for the rain, Sakura dashed out from under the roof of the hospital building. Before a single drop of rain was able to land onto her body though, she felt the air being knocked out from her lungs as she ran into a hard, sturdy chest. As she began to fall backwards from the impact, Sakura felt a strong arm slip around her back and steadied her.

"Seriously, Sakura. What did I say about calling me when you're out?" Sasuke reprimanded her with narrow eyes. Flicking her on the forehead, he added, "Also, what kind of crazy person are you to go against this crazy ass weather? It's at least a ten minute walk from here to the company."

Avoiding his eyes, Sakura gave a timid smile, saying, "Adventure is out there…?"

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke pulled her body close to him so that she was inside the umbrella as much as possible. With his hands on her shoulders, he sighed. "You're completely insane. Come on, let's go."

As the two of them stepped out into the rain, underneath the covers of the umbrella, silence enveloped the two. They walked comfortably across the parking lot, listening to the pitter patter of the raindrops landing all around them. It seemed like winter was slowly coming to a close as it was particular warm in the past couple of days with all the rain, leaving the air to be uncomfortably humid and a bit more earthy.

Sasuke opened the passenger's door for her and helped her in while shielding her from the rain. Once she was inside and settled, he closed the door before running to the other side and hastily getting inside. Throwing the umbrella onto the floor behind him, he started the car, and immediately started the windshield wipers.

When he shifted the car into reverse, Sakura suddenly beamed as a pleasing aroma reached her nose. "Wait! Is that Thai food I smell?" Whipping her head around in her seat, she spotted a familiar takeout bag sitting in the backseat. With stars practically shining in her eyes, she asked him hopefully, "Please tell me that's what I think it is?"

Not saying anything in return, Sasuke pulled out of the parking lot with a tiny smirk on his lips. And that smirk pretty much equal a yes.

"Oh my gosh! Thank you!" Sakura clasped her hands together, praising to who ever was up there for the food. Smiling, she asked him, "How did you know that I've been wanting Thai food?"

"Well," Sasuke began as he reached across and laid his hand on her thigh, "I know you best don't I?"

"Well, yes."

"But also, you've been texting me about pad thais and curry all week long, Sakura." He chuckled.

"Okay," she began, " I texted you about it like once this week and that was like three days ago."

Giving her a look, he monotonously said, "Sakura, you sent me paragraphs about it. For an hour straight."

"Okay! Fine. I was a little crazy about it."

"Hm."

"But thank you, Sasuke."

"Hn." He nodded. Eyes still on the road, he removed his hand from her thigh and reached for something in the cup holders. Holding out a cream, orange colored drink to her, he said, "I also got you this."

Immediately taking it from his grasp, she shouted excitedly, "Oh my gosh! You got me a Thai milk tea too? I freaking love you."

"I love you too."

Taking a sip of the sweet drink, Sakura moaned, "This is a gift from the heavens. It's unreal for something to be this good."

"Hm, sure."

"No I'm serious." Sakura claimed as she continued to sip on the drink. "This is literally perfection.'

"It's just milk and tea."

"Okay, it is not just _milk and tea._ " She argued hotly, holding a possessive hand over the drink. "That's like equivalent to saying tomatoes are just a fruit."

"That's because they are, Sakura." He snorted.

"Well, you get what I mean, don't you?"

"No, not really. But let's say sure."

"You're unbelievable."

"If I was so unbelievably, would I have gotten you it then?"

Sighing, Sakura mumbled, "Okay, you got me there."

After a little while, their conversations began to shift away from trivia things to more about work related items. And as they did so, Sakura noticed that Sasuke had discarded his black tie a long time ago, probably before he had came to pick her up. He had also had a couple of the top buttons of his shirt undone, revealing a bit more of his collar bone. With the warmth that his hand was radiating off onto her thighs, she began to feel a flustered. Which was why, when the car pulled to a stop at a red light, Sakura reached over and pulled on his open collar, making him turn his head in her direction. As he did so, she wasted no time before covering his lips with hers.

.

It had been a couple hours since they had gotten back to his office. By this point, his personal assistant was long gone and they were the only few left on the floor as everyone else had gone home.

Eyes slowly becoming crossed at looking at so many medical documents, Sakura pushed her laptop away and stood up, stretching like a cat in the process. Once all the knots and kinks in her back were undone, she walked over to where Sasuke was sitting at his desk, which was littered with empty takeout boxes, empty coffee cups, and an endless amount of papers. The moment they had arrived, Sasuke had threw his suit jacket elsewhere and had rolled his sleeves up to his elbows.

Slipping behind him, she wrapped her around his neck as she peeked at the papers he was reading. "How many more do you have to review?"

"This and then that stack over there." He told her without looking up from the papers in his hand. When he heard her sigh, Sasuke reached up and placed a hand over her own. "But we can leave after I finish this one."

"No, it's fine." Sakura shook her head, hands wrapping themselves a little tighter around him. Burying her face, into the junction between his neck and shoulder, she mumbled, "You should finish it here so that you don't have to worry about it when we get home."

"I'm getting tired from reading these all anyways." Sasuke assured her. "I'm going to a need a break before the next set."

"Alright."

After a couple more minutes of reading though, Sasuke sighed, closing his eyes. As he leaned back against her, Sakura gave him a light peck on the lips. A giggle slipped past her lips, "Admit defeat already?"

Opening eyes, he gazed at her tiredly, "Hn."

"I figured so. That's why I came over here and bothered you in the first place." She laughed, giving him another kiss before laying a couple more on his jawline. "I knew you were over it a long time ago. Figured it was time for me to save you from the misery."

With sarcasm dripping from his voice, he said, "How thoughtful of you, Sakura."

Feigning innocent, she replied, "No problem."

As she began to help him reorganize his desk, Sakura said, "I think we both need to distress after all this work." But as she took another look at the big stack of papers that the both of them still had, she reconsidered that thought. "Okay, maybe we both need a distressor before going back to it."

Clasping the cuffs of his sleeves back together, he asked, "Such as?"

"Guess we need to find out." Sakura pulled the tie over his head and began to knot it into place at the base of his neck. Making eye contact with him, she asked, "Any suggestions?"

At her choice of words, Sasuke simply gave her a single raised eyebrow. And as he did so, Sakura smiled and daringly pulled him close by his black tie. Tilting her head up to look at him, she felt his hands on her hips and lower back. Lips merely an inch away from each other, she breathed, "Why aren't you cheeky mister."

Scoffing in amusement, he said, "I think that's you, Sakura."

"But you're not denying that we're thinking the same thing."

"And what is that that you're thinking, _Sakura_?" He teased, his breath warm against her cheeks, sending shivers down her spine.

The longer she gazed into his deep colored eyes, the less resistant she felt. And she believed Sasuke felt the same as well judging from the way his hand was trailing way past her hips. With every ticking second, she felt herself relax a little more and more until she was leaning onto him, feeling all of the warmth that was radiating from him. Cheeks flushing a little from the intense gaze that Sasuke had on her, leaving her head in a dizzy. Tilting her head, she tipped toed up to meet him halfway.

Only to break away before they're lips can even touch as the door to his office swung open after a light knock. "Mr. Uchiha, I'm-."

At the sudden unwanted interruption, Sasuke let out a couple explicits, earning him a punch from Sakura, who flushed a darker red than before.

There at the door was none other than Natsuki, standing eyes wide.

Even though the moment had been rudely interrupted, Sasuke hadn't removed his hands from her body and Sakura hadn't bothered to remove herself from his arms either, leaving them in a very close proximity with each other.

Mouth still agap, Natuski stuttered out, "W-wait, are you guys actually dating?"

* * *

 **{A/N}:** Originally, this chapter was supposed to be a bit longer, but I decided to end it here. It's still a pretty long chapter, so I hope you guys don't mind. I was supposed to update this earlier, but me and my boyfriend finally got a chance to go watch Black Panther, and let me tell y'all... the movie was freaking amazing. So good, that I'm going to see it again on Tuesday. Have you guys watched it? If you haven't, I highly recommend it.

Anyways, hope you guys liked the chapter. As always, remember to leave me a review with your thoughts. Let's see if we can get this story to **250 reviews** by next chapter? Also, it was nice see some new "faces" in the reviews. I see you my lovely silent readers~

 **Thank you to: ILoveSxS, Three 7s, Emily da great, The Green Blossom, P. C. Y. E. X. O. 0714, chizuruyamamoto, Yui Kuran, 7HeartAndSoul7, and multiple guest anons.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Eighteen**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

"Gosh, Sasuke, every time!" Sakura exclaimed as she walked out of their bedroom. At the sight of Sasuke's extremely naked back and therefore lack of clothes, she groaned loudly. He was wearing nothing but a pair of black boxers. "Can you please, like put on a _shirt_?"

"I would, but a certain _someone_ ," Sasuke emphasized, "took it."

Rolling her eyes, "And? You have plenty of shirts the last time I checked. Therefore, that is not a valid excuse." Then making a grand gesture of twirling around in his white t-shirt, she added with a wink, "Plus, I look great in it."

"Hn, obviously. Everything I own is great."

"Okay, I would have to disagree with that." Sakura laughed as she leaned against the kitchen counter. Stealing a sip of his awfully dark and bitter coffee, she wrinkled her nose. "Not everything you own is that great." Resting her chin on the palm of her hand, she said, "Let me remind you of that _disgusting_ leather suit that you almost wore to last year's gala."

"But I made it look good didn't I?" Sasuke asked, throwing a knowing smirk her way. He remembered how flustered he had made the girl when he walked out wearing that set. Sure, it wasn't the most attractive piece of clothing he's ever seen but it still looked pretty damn good on him.

"Uh huh. Sure." Sakura nodded.

Closing the distance between the two of them, he took his drink out of her hand. "You knew I looked good."

"Quit trying to boost your already enormous ego, Sasuke."

"But I'm stating nothing but the truth, am I not?"

Rolling her eyes once again, Sakura scoffed and shoved him to the side with her shoulder. "Does the word humble not exist in your dictionary, _dear_?"

"I'll let you know that I'm a very humble person, _sweetheart_." Sasuke quipped back just a fast.

Before Sakura could escape from his grasp, he tackled her back against the kitchen counter, cornering her in. As he did that, the doorbell to their apartment rung out loudly. But Sasuke paid no mind to that as he leaned in even closer to her. Just as his breath was beginning to fan hotly against her cheek with his lips hovering over her hers, he began to tickle her to no tomorrow, earning shrieks and shouts from the rosette. And he continued on even after the doorbell continue to ring for a second time.

Giggling, Sakura exclaimed out of breath, "Sasuke, stop playing around and answer the door already. The poor delivery boy is waiting." As she said so, she tried to shove him in the direction of the door with all her might.

"But I'm not done yet."

"Oh, my gosh. Stop it." Placing her palms into his shoulder blades, Sakura gave him another slight push. "Put some clothes while you're at it too." As they continued to struggle against each other, pushing and shoving arms and limbs out of the way, Sasuke took her by surprise when he hoisted her up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Sasuke! Put me down!"

When he showed no sign of letting her go anything soon, she began throwing punches at his back in a sad attempt to free herself. As he continued to make his way towards the door, she felt an unpleasant rush of cold air creep up her bottom side, reminding her of her current near dressless state. "Sasuke, put me down right now. You are not about to flash my ass to this delivery boy standing outside."

The moment she mentioned that to him, Sakura immediately felt a hand come up and hold down the hem of the shirt that she was wearing, ensuring that it covered her entire bottom. "Don't worry, you're not going to flash anyone on my watch."

"Still! Will you just put me down? Our choice of clothing at the moment is not very appropriate."

"It's just the delivery boy."

"Who happens to be like fourteen!" Sakura exclaimed exasperatedly. "We're going to scar and burn his eyes forever."

"You're making it sound like we're butt naked, Sakura."

"We mind as well be!" The moment that those words left her mouth, she couldn't help but feel her face burn up. She didn't realize what she had just said until it was too late. Burying her face into his back, she mumbled, "I did not say that…"

"But you did."

From how she was hoisted over his shoulder, she could feel every chuckle that racked through his body. Judging from how hard his shoulder was shaking, she believed that Sasuke was having the best laugh of his life. Incredible isn't it? Am Uchiha laughing. The world must have ended. Despite her continous protests, Sasuke ignored her and swung the door to their apartment open, a smirk settling onto his lips.

"Well, I can see that you're _clearly_ enjoying China." A voice answered.

Sakura stopped her flailing and struggle against Sasuke's hold when she heard the familiar voice. _Oh my gosh… please don't tell me -_

"Baby brother. Sister in law." Itachi smiled knowingly before sending a wink to his brother.

Taken aback by Itachi's appearance, Sasuke finally placed Sakura back on the ground and stood in front of her, trying to shield her therefore lack of clothing, from his older brother's wandering eyes. Meanwhile, Sakura stood behind him with her hands covering her beet red face. Clearing his throat, Sasuke asked, "Itachi, what brings you to here this early?"

Eyes crinkling into crescents, he said, "Oh, just checking to see if there's going to be any cute little Uchiha nieces or nephews running around anytime soon."

"Itachi!" Sakura gasped in surprise, face flushing even darker.

Pulling her into his embrace, he laughed loudly. "I was just kidding sis-in-law." As he ruffled up her already messy bed hair, he whispered into her ear, "But condoms are your best friend, Sakura dear. And I'm sure that you guys have used my gift well, hm?"

After that, all that Sakura wanted to do was crawl into bed and die of embarrassment. But luckily, she had Sasuke to come to her rescue.

"Alright, Itachi." Sasuke began, an amused smirk also settling onto his lips. "I think we've embarrassed her enough for a lifetime. I think it's time to take pity on her and free her because I don't think she's breathing right now."

Chuckling, Itachi withdrew. "Hm, I think you're right. Just look at how red she is."

"Argh...you guys… are so mean…" She whined.

.

"Knock, Knock."

Looking up from a patient's chart in her hands, a smile spread across her face almost instantly at the sight of Mikoto standing in the doorway of her office.

"Mikoto!" Sakura greeted as she quickly got up from her desk. Walking towards her boyfriend's mother with open arms, she gladly welcomed the warm hug from Mikoto. "It's so nice for the whole family to be here with us for the holidays. I was afraid that it was just going to be me and Sasuke."

Squeezing Sakura tightly, Mikoto replied, "Oh that would never happen as long as I'm around darling. My husband and Itachi might not be as free, but I am." Pulling back from the hug, she added with a wink, "Just give me a call and I'll book the first flight to China to see you two."

Waving her off, Sakura said, "Oh, we don't want to be that much of a bother."

"You're never a bother darling. I can use a girl in my life too." Mikoto laughed. "Sometimes there's just too much testosterone in my house. It was a breath of fresh air when you came along." Taking a quick survey of her messy desk, Mikoto frowned. "Still a workaholic I see, even in China?"

"Oh, it's really nothing." Sakura commented as she returned back to her desk. Combining a few folders and files in her hand, she stored them away into the cabinets. "I was just reviewing some of them before I enjoy the weekend."

"Yes, that you should."

As she took off her white coat and draped it over the back of her chair, she asked Mikoto, "Have you eaten lunch yet? I was just about to go drag Sasuke out of his office and get some lunch with me."

Laughing softly, Mikoto nodded. "Actually I came here for the same reason. I figured a lunch with both my daughter-in-law and son was a bit overdue."

Cheeks flushing red at the title that she had gained since the moment that she had met Mikoto, she simply kept quiet and led Mikoto out of the ward, which made the latter laugh even harder.

.

Taking a rest from his computer screen, Sasuke glanced at his watch with a frown. It was at least twenty minutes pass the usual time that Sakura would usually barge into his office and demand that he take a break to get lunch with her. Then turning his attention to his cell phone, which had been sitting quietly on the corner of his desk, he noticed that she hadn't replied to his last message either.

He figured it was her turn to be the extreme workaholic out of the two of them today.

Sighing, Sasuke closed the email that he was reading and packed away the documents he had spread out on his desk. Just as he filed away the last of them, he heard the door to his office open. Shaking his head, a smirk on his lips, he said without looking up, "About time you got here. I was just about to come drag you out for lunch."

"Lunch?"

Hands stopping mid-way in their cleaning process, he frowned. That was definitely not Sakura's voice now that he thought about it. Clearing his throat, he continued to put away his things, not saying anything back. As he did so, he felt the newcomer walk around his desk and daringly reached out to him.

Before Natsuki could place her hands on his shoulder, he caught hold of her wrist. Eyes dark, he looked down at her. "What do you think you're doing?"

Lips a gap and cheeks flushed, she stammered back, "Oh, well, I was just going to help you clean up before you head out…"

"I do not like nor need your assistance."

"O-oh," Natsuki continued to stammer heavily as she withdrew her hands from his grasp. Reaching behind her with shaking hands, she held up a cup of dark coffee to his face. "You seem a little tired, how about some coffee?"

Holding back the urge to roll his eyes, he tilted his head to the pile of empty coffee cups at the corner of his desk. "I think I've had enough caffeine to give me a heart attack."

And to think that he had finally gotten her to understand that her presence was no longer needed, she was quick to dissolve that thought when she began to laugh and place her hand on his shoulders as if they were the closest of friends.

Hands covering her laughs, she smiled, "You're so funny Sasuke. You're a big guy, I think you can handle another cup of coffee."

"I don't want it."

"Don't worry, I made sure to make it with one cream and just one spoonful of sugar, just how you like it."

"You're wrong," Sasuke began as he brushed her hand off of his once again. Looking at her straight in the eyes, "I like it black, and it's half a spoon of sugar. Also, it can only be made by one person."

With wide eyes, feigning innocence, she asked, "Who?"

"That would be my future daughter-in-law, who also happens to be your superior." Mikoto announced as she stepped through the open office door, startling the two. Arms crossed at her middle and her lips turned downwards, she looked behind her and asked, "Isn't that right, Sakura?"

Stepping around Mikoto, Sakura made her appearance known, "Yes, it is."

.

Leaving her son in the hands of Sakura, Mikoto pulled the brown haired girl that they had found in the office outside. Heels clicking loudly as she made her way down the hall with the girl following at her steps, she fisted her hands. Whirling around without notice, scaring the girl in the process, she bit out, "Your name is Natsuki, yes?"

"Y-yes, Ma'am." She replied back, head bowed low, as her entire figure shook with fear.

"You're supposed to be in your ward doing rounds right not, are you not?"

"...y-yes…"

Stepping one step closer to the girl, she demanded, "Then please tell me why you're in the main building, especially in my son's office?"

"I-I…"

"You must know that my son is dating another woman, yes?" She continued to question harshly. "I've heard that it's been the only gossip going around in this place." Eyes closing, Mikoto pinched the the bridge of her nose, "Then please do tell me what you're trying to do with this scheme of yours? Hm?"

"I… just wanted to bring Sasuke some coffee-," Natuski began but she was cut off hotly before she could even finish her sentence.

"It is Mr. Uchiha to you, young lady. There is no Sasuke around here as far as I'm concerned." Mikoto's eye lit up with pure anger, her brows furying in the process. "This is a place of work, you are to address my son as Mr. Uchiha, and nothing of any less. Please know your place as this is a professional space."

"Y-yes, Ma'am."

"Also, if I hear anything of this silly romance you're trying to pull on my son and ruin his wonderful relationship with Sakura, me and my husband will make it a priority that you will not be able to work your license or anything within your field in this country. Maybe even this continent, depending on how we feel that day. Have I made myself clear, Natsuki?"

Head bowing lower with each word that Mikoto threw at her, she cried with trembling lips, "Y-yes, Ma'am…"

Brushing off the front of her pencil skirt, Mikoto took in a deep breath. "Now if you would excuse me, I have a much overdue lunch to grab with my two favorite people."

.

"You're definitely a force to be reckoned with Mikoto." Sakura laughed so hard that she had to stop eating and wipe away the streams of the tears coming from her eyes. "I think you might have mentally ruined her. I don't she'll be able to come back for her night shift tonight after what you put her through."

Angrily dipping her slice of sashimi into the soy sauce, she shouted, "Serves her right! I'm not letting no crazy lunatic of a homewrecker try to ruin my son's and his girlfriend's healthy relationship." Shoving the delicacy into her mouth, she frowned, "I'll be damned if a random girl like her tries to steal away my dream of having grandkids anytime soon."

Choking on both of their drinks, Sakura could barely make a complete sentence as Sasuke sent his mother a look.

Slamming her chopsticks down on the table, Mikoto pouted, "Oh don't be like that you two. You're practically my only hope at becoming a grandmother. I mean we can organize a wedding right now, if you want."

"Ma, I thought we talked about this before." Sasuke countered with a sigh as he returned back to his food.

"Yes, _we_ have," Mikoto nodded. Turning to face Sakura, whose face was still a bright pink, "But, I haven't talked about it with Sakura yet." Taking Sakura's hands into her own, she said, "How about Sakura? Are you up for a wedding? We can have it this weekend if you want. Hm?"

Laughing nervously, Sakura blushed, "Yes, but maybe not that soon…"

"How about next week? We'll be here for a few weeks anyways, dear."

"How about next year," Sasuke scoffed. Wrapping an arm around Sakura, he tried to give her some sense of reassurance. "We'll get married when we do, Ma. There's no point in rushing it."

"And there's no point in waiting," Mikoto exclaimed. "You both love each other, don't you?"

"Yes, but that's besides the point." He argued. Catching Sakura's gaze in the process, he gave her a gentle smile. "We'll do it when she's ready, Ma."

"Fine." Mikoto leaned back into her seat and pouted. "How about a compromise?"

"Such as?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"How about getting engaged at least, hm?"

.

"No offense, Sasuke," Sakura began, making eye contact with him as they came to a red light. "But, your mother is kind of crazy…. In the best way possible."

Leaning his head back against the back of the seat, Sasuke shook his head, smiling, "You don't have to sugar coat it, Sakura. We all know she's a little out there."

"Hmm," Sakura hummed in agreement.

With the car stilled, it was the first time that night that Sasuke was able to really look at her. As the street light casted a red glow over her entire body, he took in her stunning attire.

His mother, aside from bringing all the nagging about grandchildren, she flew in another custom dress for Sakura to wear for their company's gala. Per usual, anything that crossed Mikoto's selection of approval was never anything short of amazing. The number that Mikoto had chosen for Sakura was a navy floor length, off the shoulder, mermaid style dress. And of course, being the person that she was, Mikoto made sure that there was side split, that showed a lot of Sakura's toned legs, much to Sasuke's displeasure. That just meant that he would have to steer her away from the hungry, drooling men at the event.

Reaching across for her hand, he held it close to his lips and gently laid a tender kiss upon it. "You look beautiful tonight, Sakura."

Even with the many years that she has known him, she still blushes so hard when he compliments her like that. Covering her mouth, laughing shyly, she said, "You'll have to thank you mother for making me look like this."

"It's not the dress that makes you look beautiful. No, rather, it's the person wearing it that makes the dress beautiful."

Flushing a shade darker, she whined, "Did you drink before the event? Because goodness, you need to tone it down on the sweetness. You're going to give me diabetes at this rate, Sasuke."

Chuckling with a shake of his head, he ran his thumb over her knuckles in a soothing manner. "Hn, think you're accusing the wrong person here. If anything, your favorite fast food joint is going to give you more diabetes than I ever will."

"Hey! No bad talking of my favorite place is allowed, mister." Sakura countered back with a pout. "You better not go back on your word, because I want my milkshake and fries before the gala."

"Yes, _dear_."

"Now don't give me that tone, young man. You know that they feed you practically nothing at these events. The food is just for show."

"I know, I know." Sasuke attempted to calm her down as he laid another kiss onto her knuckles. And as the light turned green, he began driving again, with the final destination of the local fast food joint in mind.

* * *

 **{A/N}:** Long time no see guys! But I'm back with an update since it's my birthday (July 1st) and it's the start of SasuSaku month! Sorry for the long wait guys. I had finals that I needed to worry about. And then I did some traveling aboard. Now, I have to worry about taking my PCAT. Hence the absence. I will try to update again this weekend since actually this chapter was supposed to be much longer. But I figured it can be cut off here for now...

Anyways, hope you guys like this chapter! There might be a few errors I've missed, so I apologize in advance!

xoxo, KP


	19. Chapter 19

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Nineteen**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

The gala was situated in the upper west side of the city in a glamorous ballroom that overlooked the entire city. Just as last year, the gala was nothing short of impressive. Mikoto had always made sure of that.

The hallway that led into the main event was decorated with rows upon rows of fresh flower arrangements. Sakura saw that there were roses, orange blossoms, peonies, baby breaths, and daffodils. As they reached the ballroom, everything was decorated in an elegant color scheme of gold and creams. It was absolutely stunning.

Pulling the chair out for her, Sasuke asked, "Do you want anything to drink? I have to go talk to one of the marketing directors. I'll get you one on the way back."

With a smile, Sakura nodded. "Sure."

"Good, because I needed an excuse to get myself one too." Bending down to lay a gentle kiss on her forehead, he added quietly, "I can definitely use a little bit of alcohol to get me through these kind of events."

Eyes narrowing, she gave him a playful shove. "Oh, quit it, Sasuke. It's not even that bad."

"Well, that's because you just have to sit around and look pretty. You don't have to listen to any of old men nag at you all night long about business."

"I'll let you know being pretty is not an easy task."

"Hn, whatever you say sweetheart." Sasuke snorted.

Sakura watched with twinkling eyes at Sasuke's retreating back. Laughing internally, she prayed for his sake that those older men don't give him too harsh of a time tonight. After spending so many years with him and his family, she had heard her fair share of complaints from them about these people.

"Since my foolish brother has left you for some silly business small talk, I'll take it upon myself to be your personal bodyguard." Itachi said as he slid into the empty seat to her left. Looking equally dashing in an all black tux, he gave her a wink, along with a small smile. "Tsk, tsk. He should know better than to leave you to fend for yourself among all these wild wolves."

"Itachi," Sakura began with a laugh, "I think I can handle myself just fine."

"They're very ruthless, little sis."

Continuing to laugh, Sakura agreed. "So I've heard."

"And relentless. Therefore, I can't just abandon my lovely sister in law, who's clearly in a state of distress stemming from the sudden environment she's been thrown into."

"Itachi, you're making it sound as if I'm some type of animal on the Discovery channel."

With a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, he took a sip of the red wine in his hands, "Honestly in _our_ world, you might as well be."

"If I can survive through my high school years, where girls are at the height of their insecurities and nastiness, I think I can survive a corporate charity gala."

Shaking his head, Itachi said, "No no. What you dealt with where kittens. Now you're coming to face with the big cats and they have claws."

Smacking him on the arm, Sakura snorted. "Okay I think that's enough, Itachi. You're so dramatic sometimes."

"Okay, I hear you baby sis. I'll stop." Itachi rose his glass up in defense. Taking yet another sip, he asked, "How's Sasuke treating you thus far? Have any faults of his that you want to tattle tale on? I'll make sure to whip him into shape."

"He's wonderful." Sakura replied. "And shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't you be keeping a close eye on me and nagging me for any faults I make?"

"Oh, that's completely unnecessary." He told her off with a wave of his hand. "You're literally an angel."

"Not always."

"But generally speaking you are. Honestly, not to blow your ego up, but Sakura, you're honestly the greatest thing that has ever happened to him."

At that comment, Sakura couldn't help but feel a little taken aback. But at the same time, her heart swelled up in such warmth and love. In her eyes, she was the lucky one to have had someone like Sasuke in her life. Sakura didn't believe that she would be able to find someone that's even a fraction of what Sasuke was. He was just simply everything she could have dreamt of.

"Alright, enough of all this mushy girl talk." Standing up from his chair, he extended a hand out to her. "Now we shouldn't just sit around and talk about that foolish brother of mine all night, should we? Since we're already here and dressed up for it, how about a dance, baby sis?"

Smiling as she took his offer, she nodded. "Why, of course."

.

In the middle of a slower, jazzy song, Sakura felt a familiar hand slide up her lower back. Moving her eyes from Itachi's face, she found that Sasuke had returned from his little business adventure.

"Thanks for keeping her company, Itachi. But I think I got it from here."

"Sure thing, little brother." Itachi replied as he handed her off.

As Itachi stepped away and left them alone, Sasuke took over and began to lead her in the slow dance, hands guiding her.

With her hands resting comfortably on his shoulders, Sakura smiled up at him. "Took you long enough to escape. Did you catch any ladies along the way?"

Rolling his eyes, he told her, "No, I didn't. But they did try."

"Of course they did." She laughed.

"One of the many reasons why I hate these things."

And Sakura understood him. After being Sasuke's plus one to these things for so many years, the whole aspect of these charity galas have gotten kind of old. It was always the same miniscule food and the same music. The same old men flirting with the same young ladies. The same young ladies chasing after the same young bachelors. The same stories and gossips with the same people pretending to care about the charities and not the fact that the whole event was going to be featured on the front page of the papers.

Despite their dislike for these events so much, they couldn't just come. One, Sasuke's role in the company was too big for him to be missing from these events. Second, these were the things that Mikoto looked forward to planning so much. They had to come and support her. She would have been heartbroken if they weren't present.

Just as they turned into their second dance, Fugaku and Mikoto began walking up to the mic. As the Uchihas took their place, the music from the band began to soften away.

"Thank you all for coming tonight. We hope that everyone has enjoyed their time together here for this meaningful event. The turn out of this year's annual charity gala was double of that last year."

A round of polite claps rippled throughout the ballroom as Mikoto continued to talk on about the event and it's milestones. Every now and then, camera flashes would appear as the press took pictures.

"But," Mikoto began with a smile, "that is not the only thing that I would like to talk about tonight. As you all must have known by now, I have two lovely sons of my own. Itachi has helped me with this program when he was by my side in Japan. While overseas in China, my youngest son, Sasuke has helped me with the major preparations here. Without the two of them, a splendid event as such wouldn't have been possible."

As she spoke about her sons, the press began to advert their attention from the Uchiha Matriarch and to the people she spoke up. From their seats, both Itachi and Sasuke gave their respected wave of the hand.

"While it was lovely to have the assistance of my boys in this planning. They weren't really qualified in the little details." Mikoto told everyone with a smile, gaining polite laughs and smiles from the audience. "They couldn't distinguish between the color white or cream to save their lives. And that, was when I decided that I need a girl's opinion. For that, I would have to thank a lovely young lady, who has been with us for many years, Miss. Haruno Sakura."

At the mention of her name, everyone's attention was pointed in her direction, much to her embarrassment. Even the press was now fully captivated with her presence. Beside her, both Itachi and Sasuke clapped as did everyone else. Only difference was that Sasuke took her hand in his afterwards, attempting to calm her nerves.

"Which is why it is with my biggest pleasure to announce that my son, Sasuke, and Ms. Haruno Sakura are engaged."

And everything went wild after that.

.

Stomping furiously in the hallway to the private and secluded dressing room apart from the ballroom, he nearly ripped the double doors of its hinges as he entered with Sakura following closely behind. He had put on a fake front of happiness after his mother had turned his life into a mess. Sasuke knew better that to put the family image and reputation at risk while in the presence of the media. He was lucky that Sakura had managed to school her shock just as equally good.

Continuing to stomp into the room, he heard Sakura call out for him but he ignored her completely. Eyes glaring daggers at his mother for the first time in his life as his mother had hardly done anything in her life to anger him. Annoy him? Yes. Anger? Never, that is until now.

"Ma! What were you thinking?" Sasuke began, his face flushed. "How could you just make such a big announcement like that without confronting us about it?" Running a rough hand through his hair, he breathed deeply through his nose. "I thought I also made it clear that marriage will come into play when both me and Sakura are ready for it. I know I've allowed you to come into our relationship as you please Ma, but I had specifically requested that you left this topic for us to decide on."

"You guys are so in love," Mikoto cried out in response. "I love you son, but sometimes you need a little push in this area. I was not going to wait another twenty years for the two of you to get married. It took almost two decades before the two of you started dating!"

"I understand you're very excited to welcome Sakura into the family, Ma. But you have to remember and understand that it also her decision to either accept or reject the notion." Sasuke sighed exasperatedly. "Marriage is definitely not a one sided thing and can not be a one sided thing."

"But, darling…"

"There is no excuse, Ma. Sakura is very much entitled to her own choices. And she deserves so."

"I agree with Sasuke on this one." Itachi chimed in from the side, an equally displeased expression on his face. "Sometimes you just have to leave it for them to decide mother. Especially decisions that concerns their future and their lives. We know you love to play in these situations but sometimes you really need to take a step back and let them handle it themselves."

Being chided like that by her own children had Mikoto a little sulky, leaving her to sit down in one of the chairs in the room with a small pout. Sighing at his mother's child-like antics, Sasuke rubbed a tired hand over his face. As he did so, he felt a tiny, warm hand on his lower back. Turning to face her, Sasuke couldn't help but feel so embarrassed at his mother's action. Feeling his emotions, Sakura tilted her head and gave him a reassuring smile.

After talking it out a little more with the family, Sasuke decided he had had enough for the night, so he and Sakura took their leave. The car ride home had been awfully quiet and a little tense, maybe even a little awkward. Once they made it inside, Sasuke without a word, bent down and carefully took her heels off of her feet.

As he undid her shoes, Sakura took this moment to really survey his actions and posture. Even an hour later, the rigidness in his shoulders were still there. His lips were pressed into a straight line and there was almost a permanent frown on his face. When he set aside her shoes and stood back up, Sakura reached out for him tentatively. Wrapping her arms around his torso, her eyes made contact with his.

"You know," she began softly, "I really don't mind marrying you. I hope you know that."

Sighing heavily for what seem like the hundredth time that night, Sasuke shook his head but returned the embrace. "I know but that's not the point, Sakura. My mother shouldn't have done what she did. She should have respected your choice and that's the end of the story. Also, I know you girls like to be purposed in fairytale like settings. And she kind of ruined that for you…"

"I mean, this whole relationship has been a fairytale come true so it's not too bad."

"But,-"

"Nuh uh," Sakura shushed him quiet. Eyes twinkling, she said, "Alright I know it's been a crazy night but I think we can drop this conversation for now. All you need to know that I love you and I do not object the idea of marriage despite my previous stance on the matter."

"See! You-," Sasuke began to argue but he was yet, once again shushed.

"Okay, stop being butthurt and stop whining." Sakura hushed him. Dainty fingers traveling from the their place on his lower back to the base of his neck, she continued, "I'll let you know that I'm wearing a _fabulous_ matching set underneath this dress that I know that you would _appreciate_ greatly. Now how about we forget about all this craziness and relieve some of this stress of yours, hm?"

.

Sasuke wasn't sure how he managed to do it, but here he was, standing in the middle of a jeweler store on the outskirts of town, asking for advice from his brother and his opinions on rings.

"What happened to Naruto and being your wing man?" Itachi questioned with an amused raised eyebrow.

"Like that idiot knows anything about diamonds." Sasuke scoffed.

"So, you're actually going through with it? Considering how you showed your displeasure last night, I thought that you would have rejected it."

"And make mom and Sakura a laughing stock? No." He sighed. "I know mom was just looking out for us but sometimes she needs to know her boundaries."

"What are you going to do about it now? Is Sakura okay with it?"

"She is. But she deserves to have the full experience. Mom completely beat me to asking her hand in marriage."

Nodding in understanding, Itachi finally understood the situation. "Aa. So, what's the plan, little brother?"

Eyes fixed on the endless rows of diamonds and gems all around them, he said, "First things first, I need a ring."

.

It had been roughly about a week since the sudden announcement of their marriage had happened, and the gossip everywhere she went was still burning strong. Everywhere she went, whether it was the hospital ward, the main building, or even just getting a muffin from her favorite coffee shop, she heard the muffled talks behind her back.

Ayame had to leave for a business trip with her father right after the gala, so thankfully, Sakura was saved from the never ending questions that was going to head her way. She would have another couple days to prepare herself before Ayame would return.

And for the most part, Sakura had left her cell phone on silent or sometimes even completely turned off. The only people that she had answered calls from where from her parents, and surprisingly, they were so calm about it, not to mention happy.

Sighing, Sakura closed the file that she was reading and cleaned up her desk. With all this crazy drama that Mikoto had suddenly thrown her and Sasuke into, she couldn't focus anymore. Taking a glance at her watch, she saw that it was actually quite late, it was almost time for dinner.

The walk to the main building and Sasuke's office had her feeling like she was an animal inside a zoo. The stares that followed her every step were bafflingly uncomfortable, and the hushed whispers annoyed her. As she entered the top floor, she was surprised to that Sasuke's personal assistant and secretary still haven't left for the day.

"Working late, hm?" Sakura greeted them with a light smile and eyed the pile of documents that was placed all around them.

The two of them bowed in respect to her and nodded. "The gala had gained a lot of …. _interest_. So more companies are agreeing to our proposals with the contract."

She nodded numbly. Standing there for another awkward minute, Sakura finally got herself to bid them goodbye and headed to his office.

She had heard about it. While their marriage announcement had created an uproar, it was a good one. While many young ladies were sad to see the most eligible bachelor in Japan get hooked, they were happy that he had finally found someone. There had been rumors apparently of their marriage and that it was bound to happen. She had seen the articles, and all the kind comments that the people had sent. It was good publicity for the company, judging by the way their stocks rose by a significant twenty percent.

Closing the door quietly, she raised a single eyebrow at the sight of an empty desk. Considering how his assistants were still working hard, she for sure thought that he would still be here. Not to mention, if he had already left for the day, he would have at least attempted to get her to stop working and come home with him.

But as she surveyed the room a little longer, she realized that he had fallen asleep on the sectional he had in the room. Full suit still intact, he had a pile of documents on the floor next to him with his hand reaching out for them, even in his sleep.

Shaking her head, she smiled at the sight.

Walking over to him, she carefully placed his hand back onto his chest and carefully undid his tie. Then she pulled out a light blanket, hidden in the closet and draped it over his body. After she was sure that she hadn't woken him up, Sakura proceeded to taking all of the documents around him and transfered it to the desk.

Taking a seat at his desk, she began organizing all the files back into their correct order, placing the finished ones to one side and the unfinished ones in front of her. Then opening his email, she began to work.

Sure, Sakura hated every finance and business course she ever took in college thus far, but that didn't mean she didn't catch up on some of the information. Not to mention being with Sasuke all these years had taught her a something or two in the business world. Simple things like looking over contracts and answering emails were little things; things that even Naruto could do even if he wasn't a business major.

Glancing at Sasuke's sleeping form one last time, she smiled and continued to work away at his desk.

.

Like every morning, they were running a little late, not by much though. And the person who was to blame was none other than Sakura herself, the queen of sleeping in until the very last moment.

So there he was, standing by the kitchen counter, sipping at his black coffee as he watched a pink blob fly around their apartment frantically. He was already dressed and ready to go, with the documents he needed for work at his side. Peeking at his watch though, Sasuke smirked. What Sakura didn't know was that he had purposely set all the clocks and watches in their house to an hour ahead. And it was quite amusing to see how crazy stressed Sakura had went.

When she saw him calmly drinking his coffee, Sakura gasped loudly, "Sasuke! What the hell are you doing? We need to hustle! You have a meeting to get to in like 20 minutes!"

Shrugging his shoulders, he said, "I'm the one leading the meeting, am I not? I think they can wait a little."

"That's abusing your powers, Sasuke."

"One of the perks of being the CEO here."

Shaking her head as she walked over to him, Sakura said with a light laugh, "You're not wrong there."

"Of course not. I'm never wrong." He countered back.

"But you are wrong about your tie." She quipped just as fast as she came up to him. Setting everything that she was carrying down on the counter, she went to work on adjusting his tie. For an incredibly meticulous person, Sakura was always amuse to find his tie crooked. Honestly, she had an inkling that he only left it like that so that it would be an excuse for her to fix it, which she didn't mind.

As her dainty fingers did their job in putting his tie into place, Sasuke took this moment to really look at her.

Sakura with her bright pink hair and emerald green eyes was a major source of light in his life. Just her presence within the room was enough for him. She always made him breathe a little easier, smile a little easier, and live a little easier. She was the first thing he saw when he would wake up in the morning and she was the last thing he wanted to see before he fell asleep. She was simply put, his _everything_.

Reaching out to tuck a lock of pink hair behind her ear, he cupped her warm cheek in his hand. Thumb caressing the planes of her cheekbones, Sasuke leaned in close and gave her a tender kiss on the forehead. Then staring into those mesmerizing eyes of hers, he said softly, "I hope you know that I don't think that there's a single day that I can live without you, Sakura."

Taken aback by his sweet words, a flush of pink graced her features.

"I know that I'm not exactly the most romantic guy out there in the world but I do try." He told her with a chuckle. "But I hope you do know that I'm trying my best because you of all people deserve to be loved and cherished in such a way."

"Ever since the first day I met you in kindergarten, I knew that I wanted you to be apart of my life one way or another. And as years has passed, you've become more than an anchor in my life, and before I knew it, you became my home."

"Sasuke…," she mumbled through sudden choked tears, emotions rising high.

"I also know that my family is a pain in the ass sometimes, and I apologize for that. But I will do my best to protect you and shield you from all the pain. From them and from everything else in the world that dares turn your smile upside down."

Laughing through tears that were threatening to drop, she said, "You make it sound as if your family is out to kill me. They're very lovely, Sasuke, just like you."

"I promise you that I'll be there for everything you need. I can be your rock to support you through the hardest of times. I can be your sun on days where it's a little to hard to smile. I promise to never love you any less, if anything I promise to love you more."

And as he said so, Sakura watched through teary eyes as he pulled out a velvet box from his pockets. With her hands covering her gasp, she watched as he bent down on one knee and asked, "Will you marry me, Sakura?"

* * *

{A/N}: So this chapter was a bit of a monster... not super long but long enough, yes? I should be studying for my PCAT, which is in like 12 hours, but here I am updating this. I apologize beforehand if there's any errors, I'll fix them later this weekend. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter because it was a fun one to write. I also have a poll on my profile on what you want me to write next after this story so please vote!

Per usual, leave me a review telling me how you think and wish me the best of luck on my PCAT tomorrow!

 **Thanks to:** **chizuruyamamoto, Emily da great, Mejima, misssbehavin, ILoveSxS, FlowSoreto, MademoiselleRED, BookWormFT, Bsmiles123, Thatbabefiona, Nahilliam, FeistyAya, CelesteYuuki, and multiple guest anons.**

 _ **Special thanks to**_ **FeistyAya & _the guest anon that reviewed every chapter thus far in their binge read. I enjoyed your guys' reviews very much!_**


	20. Chapter 20

**Querencia**

 **Chapter Twenty**

* * *

 _Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~_

* * *

In all of her life, Sakura never understood how she could be so blessed and fortunate to have someone like Sasuke in her life. Just as she was everything to him, Sasuke was everything to her.

And when he was looking at her the way he was doing right now, as if she was the very center of his entire universe, she could barely breathe. Every time that his lips would caress hers, the whole world stopped, leaving just the two of them together, in each other's arms. Then when he would hold her face in between his hands, it felt like he undid all the knots within her.

Each time that Sakura looked at him, she still felt the same butterflies and love as she did back when they were five, when they first met each other on the school's playground. Nearly two decades have passed and nothing has changed. If anything did, it was simply the love that she had for him grew tenfold. Just as she was his entire universe, Sasuke was hers, and will always be hers.

With tears brimming in her eyes, Sakura through trembling lips whispered, "Yes." And that was about all that she could manage before the water works began, sending her into a blubbering mess as she threw her arms around him tightly.

But all of this was short lived though as not soon after, Sasuke's phone began ringing, calling to their attention that if they don't bolt for it, he was going to be late to the director's meeting this morning. So they all but shared a couple more chaste kisses, before dashing out the door, with a ring gleaming on her left hand.

.

Sasuke had promised to bring her lunch after skipping breakfast this morning and she was very much looking forward to it as the moment that the shared this morning as all too short. So when she heard a soft knock on the door, Sakura hastily put away her paperwork and cleared her desk.

To her surprised though, when she opened the door, the person behind the door was not a certain dark-raven haired man.

Instead it was Mikoto.

Brushing off her initial shock, Sakura backed up from the door and welcomed her in. "Mikoto, I wasn't… expecting you here today…" Unsure of what to do with herself, Sakura simply closed the door behind the woman and led them to the couches in her office. Busying herself with pouring some tea for the both of them, Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin when Mikoto slid her hand onto top of hers. And she nearly had a heart attack when she heard the woman beside her begin to sniffle back tears.

Reaching out for Mikoto, Sakura wrapped her arms around her body. "Oh, please don't cry, Mikoto."

"I'm so sorry darling." Mikoto wept into her shoulders, returning her tight hug. "I'm truly sorry about what had happened at the gala. I was just… so excited about the idea of you two getting married and welcoming you into the family, that I didn't think about how you would have felt at all. How terrible was I to do so!"

Running her hands down Mikoto's back, Sakura couldn't help but almost laugh at Mikoto's crying. The roles were so reversed; it was as if Mikoto was a child being scolded for their wrongdoings and apologizing in return.

"It's alright, Mikoto." Sakura told her as she handed the woman a box of tissues to dry her tears. Smiling, Sakura added, "It looks like it all worked out in the end anyways." Not being able to hold herself back any longer, Sakura eagerly showed Mikoto her left hand.

At first, Mikoto was confused at what she was referring to. But then as she wiped away her tears and saw Sakura's hand extended out to her, Mikoto's head immediately snapped up to meet her eyes. Lips parted, Mikoto exclaimed, "Oh, my dear Sasuke actually did it?"

Grasping Sakura's hand in her own, she admired the diamond nestled in on the silver band. Then looking back up at Sakura, she cried yet again. This time out of pure happiness. "It's absolutely beautiful, sweetheart. Oh, I'm so happy for the both of you." Before Sakura could even hand her some more tissues, Mikoto had her pulled into another tight hug, swaying her from side to side. "You two are perfect for each other. I swear, even if you two didn't end up together for whatever reason, I would have never let Sasuke marry someone else anyways."

In the middle of Mikoto's rambles of happiness, a knock sounded at her door, announcing the arrival of another newcomer. Glancing from over her soon to be mother in law's shoulder, Sakura spotted Sasuke creeping in with their lunch for the day. As he entered, Sasuke simply raised a single eyebrow at the current situation that she was in. Shrugging her shoulders lightly in return, she gave him a small smile.

Sighing, Sasuke gently set down their lunch on the coffee table before coming over to the two ladies. Reaching out for his mother, Sasuke said, "Ma, I think you're overwhelming her with all the crying and being emotional."

"Oh!" Mikoto exclaimed, a bit embarrassed to be caught as she did by her youngest son, she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. Then waving her tissue in the air, she added, smiling through tears. "Don't mind me darling. I'm just being a mother, that's all. Nothing to worry about."

"Speaking of mothers," Sakura mumbled. Exchanging a look with Sasuke, she frowned, "My parents are not going to be happy about this at all…"

Running a hand down her back in a soothing manner, Sasuke placed a light kiss on top of her head. "Hmm, don't worry about that. I have it covered."

"Nuh uh," she countered back at him. "You can't just weave yourself out of this one, Sasuke." Shaking her head, she added, "My father is going to be so mad that you didn't ask him for his blessing beforehand."

At this, Sasuke simply smirked at her slight distress as he shared a knowing look with his mother. Continuing to run his hands down her back in attempt to soothe her, he said, "Hm, we'll see."

.

It seemed like today was just packed with surprises.

Halfway through their lunch, Sasuke casually told her that they were flying back to Konoha for the weekend as he was finished with the business here for the year. Sakura had certainly not expect that they were going to be able to fly back home for the holidays based on how work was going for him. But low and behold, Sasuke had whisked her away onto a plane heading for Japan not more than a couple hours later.

As they landed in Japan later that evening, Sakura couldn't help but fidget nervously as they waited for their luggage to come around. She haven't even had the time to talk to her parents to tell them that they were coming home, much less mention that she was now engaged. Her mother would be fine, she knew for sure. But her father on the other hand was another thing completely. While he looked a lot more calm and humorous than her mother, he was not one to mess with when it came to relationships with his only daughter.

Taking notice of Sakura's clear display of emotional distress, Sasuke reached out for her and tucked her into his embrace. Then placing a soft kiss on her temple, he reassured her, "Everything will be okay, Sakura. I promise."

"Oh, I don't know Sasuke. You can make and hold a lot of promises, but I don't know about this one." She told him worriedly.

"Have a little faith in me, will you Sakura?" Sasuke chuckled. "Trust me on this one. I have it handled and under control."

Pulling away from his embrace, Sakura whispered, "Maybe we should have brought him some chinese wine before we left. To ease him into the conversation. A little alcohol wouldn't hurt."

"I think you're the one that can use a little alcohol in your veins, dear."

"Maybe I do." Sakura nodded. Tilting her head towards their luggage that was slowly making their way around the luggage carousel, she asked, "You don't happen to have any alcohol in that suitcase of yours for emergencies like this, do you?"

Clasping his hands down on her shoulders, Sasuke gave them a quick squeeze. "Hn, you just need to relax. Come on, it's time for us to leave. We shouldn't keep your parents waiting for too long."

"If it saves us from a bloody war, then I think that they can wait a couple more minutes."

"Stop being dramatic, Sakura."

As he pulled her along towards the exit, Sakura couldn't help but continue to blabber mindlessly out of nervousness. Sasuke all but ignored her blabbering and led her out, searching for her parents amongst the crowd. But it didn't take long for him to locate her father's huge stature and star shaped hair.

"Sakura! Sasuke! Over here!" Kizashi hollered to them as he waved his hands in the air excitedly.

Before they could even exchange hellos, Mebuki immediately envelope the couple into a tight hug. "Oh, how I've missed you too. It's so good to have you back, blossom."

And in that moment, Sakura allowed her worries to slip away for a mere moment as she returned the hug. "I've missed you too Mom."

Then pulling back from their embrace, Mebuki winked at her in a knowing manner. "So, I've heard that China has been treating you _very_ well, my daughter. A little birdy has told me that something very exciting as occurred, am I right?"

Wringing her hands together, Sakura gnawed on her lips. Stealing a quick glance at her father, she hid her hands behind her back. "Uhh, I guess you could say so…."

"Oh, that's nonsense!" Her mother waved her off. Eyes shining bright, her mother exclaimed, "Alright, let me see that ring of yours! Knowing Sasuke, he must have done a wonderful job in finding the perfect ring for you. Come on know, let me see."

Unable to stop her mother's prying hands, Sakura had no choice but to allow her to take a hold of her left hand. To which a loud gasp slipped from Mebuki's lips as she cried out, "Oh my gosh. It's gorgeous, Sakura!"

As this all unfolded, Sakura watched for her father's reaction carefully. And she was surprised to find that he wasn't angry at the sight of the ring at all. Instead, it was quite the exact opposite. Kizashi was happily holding a conversation with Sasuke, his hand clapping Sasuke hard on the back in a congratulatory manner.

Ignoring her mother's constant gushing over her ring for a moment, Sakura asked astonished, "Wait… you're not mad Dad?"

Kizashi howled in laughter at his daughter's sudden question. Shoulders shaking in mirth, he asked in return, "And why would I be dear?"

Eyes widening, Sakura stuttered as she looked between the two men, "A-aren't you mad that Sasuke proposed without asking for your blessing?"

She watched as her father and Sasuke shared a quick look before the both of them laughed, although Sasuke's was much more subdued. But it was still evident that they had found the situation at hand funny, hilarious even.

"Blessing?" Her father repeated, a big smile on his face. Then pulling Sasuke by the shoulders, something like a proud father would do, he told her, "Sweetheart, he asked me for that _decades_ ago. Literally."

"Wait, what?" Sakura was shocked to say so to the least. Averting her attention from her father to Sasuke, she asked, "You did? When? How come I didn't know about this?"

"Oh come on, sweetheart," Kizashi said. "That's the minor details. It's a conversation between us men that you don't need to worry about."

Placing her hands on her hips, she continued to stare at the two men suspiciously, a single eyebrow raised. "Okay, now I'm even more curious."

At her statement, Sasuke simply winked at her as he began to help her father load up their luggage into the car. Then coming back to her, he took her hand and opened the car's door for her. "Come on, it's time for dinner. I'll tell you the story another time."

* * *

{A/N}: Yes, hello~ I am very much alive and still working on this lovely fic. I just had a really major writer's block on this one. It took me a _very_ long time to finally settle down and get this chapter done. While it is a bit shorter than the previous chapters, I hope you guys still enjoy this one. As requested since the beginning, Sakura's parents has finally made their appearance!

I will try to make the next update soon and I promise it won't be months again until the next chapter.

Thank you for sticking around with my lazy butt for all this time. Happy Holidays everyone!

Anyways, leave me a review and tell me how you feel about this chapter~

 **Thank you to: BoycottingLove, chica-flick, BookWormFT, ILoveSxS, SeaInkBlot, Emily da great, BlueMarian, asma raya, chizuruyamamoto, FeistyAya, Mejima, CharlieSlayer, Tipu940, withloveagain, Bsmiles123, Elisa. CFPS, UnknownSoul- x, brenda sianipar, Caila27, muut, fan4ever, jesteeeyn, Sasusaku Uchiha1, and MANY guest anons.**


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